BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

•o 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

Gift  of 
Mrs.   Esther  C.  Thomson 


c/ 


**.  >. 


SCIENTIFIC   ASPECTS 
OF   MORMONISM 

OR 
RELIGION  IN  TERMS  OF  LIFE 


BY 


NELS  L.  NELSON 

Professor  of  English  in  the  Brigham  Young  University,  Provo,  Utah 
Author  of  "  Preaching  and  Public  Speaking  " 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

Ifcntcfeerbocfcer  {press 
1904 


COPYRIGHT,   1904 
BY 

N.  L.  NELSON 
Published,  July,    1904 


ttbc  ftnicftcrbocfter  press,  Hew 


I  °  3  4  13 


PREFACE 

THIS  book  is  offered  to  the  consideration  of 
sane  people, — people  not  willing  to  hold 
convictions  the  premises  of  which  lie  in  other 
men's  brains;  especially  when  such  convictions 
affect  their  attitude  toward  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  their  fellow-citizens.  Needless  to  say, 
this  is  a  new  kind  of  "Mormonism  Exposed,  "- 
written  from  the  point  of  view  that  Mormonism 
is  good,  and  true,  and  beautiful ;  and  that,  conse- 
quently, its  detractors  should  improve  their  judg- 
ment, or  mend  their  manners. 

Mormonism  claims  to  be,  not  a  sect,  but  a  re- 
ligion,— the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  dis- 
tinction between  a  sect  and  a  religion  lies  in  the 
fact  that  the  sect  has  no  philosophy,  no  way  of 
looking  at  the  cosmos  differently  from  that  of  the 
family  of  beliefs  to  which  it  belongs.  Christians 
generally  insist  that  Mormonism  is  not  to  be 
classed  among  the  sects — or,  to  use  the  softer  ex- 
pression, the  churches, — of  Christianity.  In  this 
judgment  Mormons  willingly  concur.  Neither  in 
the  background  of  philosophy,  nor  in  the  fore- 
ground of  its  doctrine  and  ritual,  does  it  more  than 
distantly  resemble  modern  Christian  churches. 

iii 


iv  Preface 

But  that  it  is  therefore  not  the  religion  of  Christ ; 
that  it  is  therefore  not  built  upon  the  revelations 
of  the  Bible,  as  well  as  the  teachings  of  modern 
science,  Mormons  by  no  means  concede. 

The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints 
may  be  studied  from  two  aspects:  from  the  ex- 
ternal aspect,  by  which  are  meant  its  organ- 
ization as  a  church  and  its  rites,  doctrines, 
ceremonies,  and  practices  as  a  social  body ;  or 
from  the  internal  aspect,  by  which  is  meant 
its  philosophy  or  fundamental  principles, — the 
principles  that  must  be,  in  order  that  its  forms 
as  a  religion  may  exist. 

To  enter  upon  the  first  aspect  would,  in  this 
day,  be  a  thankless  task.  The  age  of  religious 
polemics  is  gone.  Time  was  when  to  prove  a 
doctrine  scriptural  was  to  prove  it  true;  now  it 
is  merely  to  prove  it  scriptural.  People  are 
weary  of  wrangles  concerning  interpretation. 
Suppose  you  show  that  the  Bible  is  on  your 
side.  What  then?  You  have  merely  shown 
that  the  Bible  is  on  your  side.  The  vital  ques- 
tion is  not,  Does  this  doctrine  square  with  Scrip- 
ture? but,  Does  it  square  with  life  as  interpreted 
in  that  newer  revelation  of  God,  the  book  of 
nature  ? 

I  shall  therefore  discuss  the  subject  from  its 
second  or  philosophic  aspect,  and  attempt  to 
show  what  answer  Mormonism  gives  to  the  ques- 
tions, "Whence  came  man?",  "Why  is  he  here?", 
"Whither  does  he  tend?";  at  the  same  time 


Preface  v 

making  comparisons  step  by  step  with  what 
modern  scientific  thought  teaches  along  the  same 
lines. 

N.  L.  N. 

PROVO,  UTAH, 
May  2,  1904. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PREFACE  .        .        .        .        ,        .       \  .        iii 

PROEM:  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  TRUTH        -.  .        xi 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  OCCASION  FOR  WRITING  THIS  BOOK    .  .         i 

CHAPTER  II 
MORMONISM  A  SCIENTIFIC  RELIGION  .         .         .         9 

CHAPTER  III 
THE  MORMON  CONCEPTION  OF  GOD    .         .        .       14 

CHAPTER  IV 
THE  QUESTION  OF  GOD'S  PERSONALITY  ARGUED  .       24 

CHAPTER  V 

ARGUMENT  FOR  THE  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD  (con- 
tinued)         .          .          .  '.  .        -t         .;          .        34 

CHAPTER  VI 

COMMON  GROUND  BETWEEN  THE  Two  CONCEP- 
TIONS         v     ,  .      .  .        .  .    •-.        .        ,      45 

vii 


viii  Contents 

CHAPTER  VII 

PAGB 

THE  PLACE  OP  RELIGION  IN  THE  ECONOMY  OP 

LIFE 51 

CHAPTER  VIII 

MORMONISM  A  TRANSCENDENT  SYSTEM  OF  EVO- 
LUTION       .         .         .        .        .        .        .      61 

CHAPTER  IX 
THE  DUAL  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  NATURAL  WORLD        69 

CHAPTER  X 

MAN'S  SPIRITUAL  LIFE  A  PROCESS  OF  EVOLU- 
TION            .        .        .       78 

CHAPTER  XI 

How  GOD  is  SHAPING  THE  DESTINY  OP  MAN- 
KIND     ' .        .        .       89 

CHAPTER  XII 
How  GOD  RULES  AMONG  THE  NATIONS      .        .     105 

CHAPTER  XIII 

How  GOD  SHAPES  THE  DESTINY  OF  THE  INDI- 
VIDUAL         ,117 

CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  SCIENTIFIC  ASPECT  OF  FAITH  IN  GOD        .     129 

CHAPTER  XV 

TRUE  EDUCATION  AND  TRUE  REPENTANCE  IDEN- 
TICAL OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND         .        .     147 


Contents  ix 

CHAPTER  XVI 

*AGB 

THE  LOGICAL  NECESSITY  OF  REPENTANCE  AND 

FORGIVENESS      ......     160 

CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  LOGICAL  NECESSITY  OF  BAPTISM         .         .     173 

CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  NATURE  OF  SPIRITUAL  EVOLUTION  .  .  185 

CHAPTER  XIX 

SPIRITUAL  FORCES  ONLY  HIGHER  POWERS  OP 

FORCES  KNOWN  TO  PHYSICS        .         .         .198 

CHAPTER  XX 

WHAT  INTELLIGENT  BEINGS  WILL  Do  IN  THE 

HEREAFTER         .  '    •  ,        .         .         .         .216 

CHAPTER  XXI 

PHILOSOPHICAL  DIFFICULTIES  TO  THE  CONCEPT 

OF  A  PERSONAL  GOD 232 

CHAPTER  XXII 
GODHOOD  AS  INCARNATED 245 

CHAPTER  XXIII 
THE  REAL  MEANING  OF  GODHOOD  ,  .  .  251 

CHAPTER  XXIV 
GODHOOD  INOPERATIVE  UNLESS  INCARNATED  .  258 


x  Contents 

CHAPTER  XXV 

PAGE 

JEHOVAH,  GOD  OF  ABRAHAM,  ISAAC,  AND  JACOB       267 

CHAPTER  XXVI 
How  OUR  FATHER  BECAME  GOD        .        ,        .     275 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE  FULLNESS  OF  PRIESTHOOD  is  GODHOOD     .     284 
CHAPTER  XXVIII 

IF  NOT  MORMONISM WHAT?        ....       295 

CHAPTER  XXIX 

WHAT  SECTARIANISM  HAS  TO  OFFER          .         .     303 
CHAPTER  XXX 

CONCLUSION:    MORMONISM  DESTINED  TO  HAVE 

THE  LAST  WORD          .        .        .        .        .     311 

ADVERTISEMENT:  "SOCIAL  ASPECTS  OF  MOR- 
MONISM"   321 

APPENDIX  A 
SPIRITUAL  PROOFS  OF  PRE-EXISTENCE       .        .     323 

APPENDIX  B 

CONTRADICTIONS  RESULTING  FROM  THE  AT- 
TEMPT TO  CHRISTIANIZE  THE  GOD  OF 
BUDDHA 330 

INDEX         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .     339 


"THE  time  is  wracked  with  birthpangs;  every  hour 
Brings  forth  some  gasping  truth,  and  truth  new- 
born 

Looks  a  misshapen  and  untimely  growth, 
The  terror  of  the  household  and  its  shame, 
A  monster  coiling  in  its  Nurse's  lap, 
That  some  would  strangle,  some  would  only  starve; 
But  still  it  breathes,  and  passed  from  hand  to  hand, 
And  suckled  at  a  hundred  half -clad  breasts, 
Comes  slowly  to  its  stature  and  its  form, 
Calms  the  rough  ridges  of  its  dragon-scales, 
Changes  to  shining  locks  its  snaky  hair, 
And  moves  transfigured  into  angel-guise, 
Welcomed  by  all  that  cursed  its  hour  of  birth, 
And  folded  in  the  same  encircling  arms 
That  cast  it  like  a  serpent  from  their  hold." 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES — Truths. 


SCIENTIFIC  ASPECTS  OF 
MORMONISM 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  OCCASION  FOR  WRITING  THIS  BOOK 

"  It  [the  Mormon  Church]  is  not  to  be  educated,  not  to  be 
civilized,  not  to  be  reformed — it  must  be  crushed.  No  other 
organization  is  so  perfect  as  the  Mormon  Church,  except  the 
German  army." — A  prominent  Christian  clergyman  before 
the  general  assembly  of  his  church.1 

DURING  the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century, 
remarks  like  the  above  quotation  have 
formed  the  staple  commentary  on  Mormonism; 
and  the  animus  so  expressed,  bolstered,  indeed, 
by  whatever  facts  could  be  impressed  into  such 
service,  has  found  its  way  into  dictionary,  cyclo- 
pedia, and  general  history.  It  need  not  be  pointed 
out  here  that  these  harsh  judgments  have  almost 
invariably  originated  with  those  guardians  of  our 
moral  and  spiritual  civilization,  the  ministers  of  the 

1  The  author  has  considered  it  desirable  to  avoid  for  the 
most  part  specific  mention  of  living  people. 


2          The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Gospel ;  nor  need  it  be  wondered  at  therefore  that 
the  Mormons  credit  the  unbalanced  zeal  of  the 
preaching  fraternity  with  being  a  prime  cause  of 
all  the  mobbings  and  drivings  which  have  marked 
them  out  as  the  persecuted  religion  of  the  nine- 
teenth century. 

To  the  extent  that  we  Mormons  are  Latter-day 
Saints,  we  smile  at  such  ministerial  zeal  and 
forget;  for  our  religion  teaches  us  to  "do  good  to 
them  that  hate  and  revile  us,  and  to  pray  for  them 
that  despitefully  use  us,  and  speak  all  manner  of 
evil  against  us." 

But  to  the  extent  that  we  are  merely  Mormons, 
that  is  to  say,  human  beings  trammelled  by  church 
forms,  we  keep  tab  on  such  utterances — and  the 
deeds  which  often  follow  them;  whence  it  hap- 
pens that  by  every  human  law  of  offense  and  re- 
prisal, the  sins  of  the  clerical  profession  against 
the  Mormons  should  have  accumulated  by  now 
past  all  hope  of  their  ever  establishing  among  us 
those  bonds  of  fraternal  sympathy  which  are  in- 
dispensable to  proselyting  work  among  any  people. 

As  mere  human  beings,  we  cannot  forget  that 
it  is  their  prejudiced  views  and  mistaken  zeal  that 
have  propagated  the  hundreds  of  lurid  "Mor- 
monisms  Exposed,"  which  have  come  to  be  as 
necessary  as  narcotics  to  many  good  people. 
Naturally  enough,  too,  we  resent  the  air  of 
superior  sanctity,  with  which  these  same  men 
condemn  our  religion  unheard.  And  if  our  confi- 
dence in  them  is  shattered,  by  the  way  in  which 


Harsh  Methods  3 

they  misrepresent  us,— from  mere  fragmentary 
and  often  misquoted  passages ;  and  if  our  respect 
follows  our  confidence,  when  we  see  the  obvious 
connection  between  our  periodical  besmirchment 
by  them,  through  the  eastern  press  and  pulpit, 
and  their  ardent  need  of  funds  for  the  "Mormon 
Crusade,"  is  it  not  precisely  what  would  happen 
with  any  other  people  under  like  provocation? 

Now  if  this  animus  of  meddling  clergymen 
stopped  with  the  godly  men  themselves,  one 
might  regard  it  as  a  necessary  evil, — a  sort  of 
escape-valve  for  the  lingering  spirit  of  Adam  in 
them;  but  it  spreads, — much  faster  than  right- 
eousness could, — as  any  message  winged  by  hate 
always  will ;  so  that  more  than  once  in  the  history 
of  Mormonism  a  whole  continent  has  been  in- 
flamed against  an  unoffending  people  behind  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

One  can  readily  imagine  the  mental  process  by 
which  the  opinions  of  the  pastor  become  the  con- 
victions of  the  congregation.  Accustomed — not 
without  good  reasons — to  consider  his  judgment 
as  the  standard  of  righteousness,  the  flock  can  only 
reason  that  what  excites  godly  anger  in  the  shep- 
herd must  be  bad  indeed ;  and  on  no  other  form  of 
sin  does  the  good  man  usually  wax  so  righteously 
eloquent  as  on  what  he  is  pleased  to  call  the  delu- 
sions of  Mormonism. 

And  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  one  cannot  help 
wondering  that,  in  an  age  of  psychic  analysis, 
several  palpable  phases  of  this  wholesale  denuncia- 


4          The  Science  of  Mormonism 

tion  are  overlooked  by  the  laity  in  coming  to  a 
conclusion.  First,  the  spectacle  of  a  reverend 
gentleman  turning  red  in  the  face  and  breaking 
out  into  anathemas  against  other  interpreters  of 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  ought  in  itself  to  ex- 
cite a  cautious  wonder;  secondly,  the  fact  that 
hatred  (of  Mormons)  can  temporarily  unite  sects 
which  love  (of  Christ)  has  never  hitherto  brought 
together,  ought  at  least  to  raise  a  small  doubt  as 
to  the  real  source  of  the  inspiration ;  thirdly,  the 
fact  that  Mormonism  thrives  in  spite  of  this  com- 
bined assault  of  the  other  religions,  ought  to  suggest 
that  righteousness  may  possibly  form  a  considerable 
part  in  the  system  which  this  ministerial  anger 
denounces;  since,  by  the  growing  wisdom  of  the 
age,  sin  is  coming  to  be  regarded  as  weak,  tran- 
sitory, wholly  incapable  of  cohesion, — righteous- 
ness alone  being  vigorous  enough  to  form  and 
perpetuate  an  organic  system. 

All  this  negative  agitation  by  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  could  be  overlooked,  however,  as  what  we 
ourselves  might  do  under  similar  circumstances; 
but  it  will  not  down  even  with  the  best  of  us,  the 
fact  that  in  all  the  drivings,  mobbings,  and  san- 
guinary tragedies,  which  have  accompanied  the 
ostracism  of  this  people,  the  sanctified  figure  in 
black  has  invariably  turned  up  as  the  immediate 
plotter  and  arch-villain. 

If,  on  the  whole,  therefore,  Mormons  do  not  rush 
to  fill  the  sectarian  churches  established  in  our 
midst ;  if  the  advances  of  sectarian  ministers  are 


Harsh  Methods  5 

received  with  an  undercurrent  of  distrust  and 
suspicion ;  if  they  fail  to  interest,  let  alone  convert 
us, — the  evident  reason  lies,  in  part  at  least,  in 
their  general  attitude  of  contempt  for  us;  and 
especially  in  the  history  of  their  dealings  with  us 
as  a  people. 

But  this,  after  all,  is  only  the  minor,  the  super- 
ficial reason  for  our  mutual  antagonism.  For  we 
are  not  morbidly  sensitive,  nor  do  we  hold  a 
grudge.  Were  we  a  secluded  or  insular  people, 
sect-narrowness  might  perpetuate  the  memory  of 
wrongs  and  stimulate  the  desire  for  revenge,  as  it 
no  doubt  did  in  the  older  days ;  but  what  with  two 
thousand  Elders  constantly  on  missions,  and  re- 
turning every  two  or  three  years  laden  with  ideas 
and  observations  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe, 
we  are  fast  becoming  the  most  cosmopolitan  peo- 
ple under  the  sun ;  and  a  cosmopolitan  people  are 
not  likely  to  cherish  sect-resentment. 

Besides,  we  are  too  often  buffeted  and  bruised 
to  harbor  our  injuries  long.  Let  any  minister 
meet  us  fairly  and  squarely  on  the  plane  of  equal- 
ity, and  there  is  no  house  of  worship  throughout 
Mormondom  that  would  be  closed  against  him,  as 
many  notable  incidents  of  this  kind  already  attest. 

The  real  reason  why  the  ministers  and  the 
Mormons  are  as  oil  and  water,  lies  deeper.  What 
the  reverend  gentleman  says,  contains  a  sub- 
stantial truth.  If  being  "  educated,  reformed, 
civilized,"  means  being  converted  to  his  way  of 
looking  at  things,  then,  indeed,  the  solution  that 


6          The  Science  of  Mormonism 

he  suggests  is  the  only  one  that  will  be  effective; 
and  if  it  will  ease  the  gentleman's  conscience  in 
advocating  it,  I  may  add,  that  Mormons  would 
prefer  it  as  decidedly  the  lesser  of  two  evils. 

The  reverend  preacher  of  Christian  love  and 
charity  must  not  think,  however,  that  his  reasons 
for  crushing  us  are  either  new  or  novel ;  for  such 
a  justification  has  invariably  been  the  working 
basis  of  every  religious  crusade  that  has  darkened 
the  history  of  the  world;  save,  perhaps,  that 
where  the  bigots  of  former  times  proceeded  in  the 
name  of  God,  this  later  Dominie  invokes  the  name 
of  civilization. 

It  is  by  no  means  impossible  that  we  are  on  the 
eve  of  a  new  crusade;  especially  in  view  of  the 
painful  memories  of  Mormons  still  living.  Do 
you  think  the  thorns  and  thistles  of  the  Middle 
Ages  forgot  to  cast  their  seed?  Neither  did  the 
Inquisitors  and  witch-burners.  The  present  uni- 
versal prate  about  liberty  of  conscience  signifies 
nothing.  No  persecutors  ever  proceeded  as  con- 
scious persecutors ;  nor  did  contemporary  popular 
sentiment  recognize  them  for  what  they  were. 

Religious  bigotry  is  discernible,  save  by  a  few, 
only  in  perspective.  It  is  ever  a  past,  never  a 
present  vice  of  any  people.  Couched  in  the  cant 
phrases  of  the  prevailing  popular  movement,  it 
seems  the  very  incarnation  of  purity  and  pro- 
gress. The  one  persistent  element  in  it,  if,  in- 
deed, we  may  not  call  it  the  motive  power,  is  hate 
— an  element  which  should  make  even  enthusiasm 


Harsh  Methods  7 

pause;  but  then  this  very  quality  itself  mas- 
querades as  the  supreme  religious  virtue, — a 
righteous  valor  against  iniquity. 

Now  as  the  crushing  process  has  more  than  once 
been  tried  against  the  Latter-day  Saints,  why 
should  it  not  be  tried  again?  And  as  the  "re- 
form" demanded  of  us  in  the  past,  has  merely 
meant  "conform,"  and  consequently  has  failed,— 
I  am  grateful  for  the  opportunity  of  pointing  out 
in  this  book  why  any  new  attempt  to  crush  ought 
not  to  be  made,  and  if  made,  why  it  ought  to  fail, 
as  it  surely  will. 

In  other  words,  I  am  grateful  for  this  oppor- 
tunity of  putting  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter-day  Saints  into  sharp  contrast  with  the  isms 
whose  efforts  thus  far,  instead  of  having  added  to 
the  extremely  small  sum  of  Christian  patience  and 
long  suffering  in  their  promoters,  have  so  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  learn  ended  only  in  balked  and 
vindictive  rage.1 

Mr.  Elbert  Hubbard  (Cosmopolitan,  October, 
1902),  in  reviewing  with  Philistine  pen  the  factors 
that  would  make  for  the  Millennium,  places  this 
condition  first:  "Men  will  decline  to  join  any 
social  club  that  calls  itself  a  'Church'." 

1  Let  me  disclaim  any  intention  of  arraigning  ministers  of 
the  Gospel  in  general,  save  as  they  resemble  those  in  Utah. 
These  latter  have  declared  war  on  us,  and  are  therefore  legit- 
imate targets  for  counter  attack.  Unable  to  agree  among 
themselves  on  tenet  and  doctrine,  they  have  yet  found,  deep 
in  their  spiritual  bosoms,  a  common  bond  of  union — hatred 
of  the  Mormons. 


8         The  Science  of  Mormonism 

I  do  not  take  it  that  Mr.  Hubbard  condemns 
churches  in  toto — only  those  which  have  degen- 
erated into  fashionable  clubs,  and  so  are  hindering 
social  progress.  Let  us,  then,  take  this  admirable 
criterion  of  the  fitness  of  any  Church  to  survive : 
viz.,  its  social  effectiveness  or  inherent  power  to 
help  usher  in  the  Millennium ;  not  on  some  world- 
to-be,  but  here  on  the  third  planet  of  the  solar 
system.  And  by  the  result  of  such  a  comparison, 
let  it  be  judged  whether  Mormonism  ought  to  be 
crushed  or  cultivated. 


CHAPTER  II 

MORMONISM   A    SCIENTIFIC    RELIGION 

O  CIENCE  and  religion  have  so  long  been  thought 
<-)  of  in  contrast,  that  is,  as  systems  of  thought 
more  or  less  irreconcilable,  that  I  shall  perhaps 
provoke  a  smile  from  the  critical  reader  when  I 
unite  the  two  concepts  as  I  have  done  in  the  title 
of  this  introductory  chapter.  I  shall  even  commit 
myself  further,  however,  by  taking  the  ground 
that  a  religion  which  is  not  scientific  is  scarcely 
worthy  the  credence  of  our  enlightened  age. 

To  demonstrate  that  Mormonism  is  such  a  re- 
ligion is  perhaps  too  large  a  task  for  the  limit 
which  I  have  allowed  myself  in  this  volume.  The 
utmost  I  can  hope  to  do,  is  to  show  that  its  basic 
data  are  not  out  of  keeping  with  those  general 
laws  of  nature  on  which  all  the  conclusions  of 
scientists  rest. 

To  begin  with,  the  fundamental  conception 
of  Reality  is  alike  in  science  and  Mormonism. 
Joseph  Smith  defined  truth  as  an  account  of 
"things  as  they  are,  as  they  have  been,  and  as  they 
will  be"  In  other  words,  truth  is  not  a  mystical 
something  behind  and  below  phenomena ;  truth  is 

9 


TO        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

nothing  else  than  the  impression  made  on  the  mind 
of  man  by  phenomena. 

But  phenomena  are  merely  appearances,  not 
realities.  Theosophy  and  Christian  Science — in 
fact  all  idealistic  schools  of  philosophy — will  de- 
monstrate this  fact,  that  phenomena  are  illusory 
— not  things,  but  the  shadow  of  things.  Well,  in 
spite  of  such  demonstration,  science  proceeds  to 
build  up  these  illusions, — these  shadows, — into  a 
great  many  correlated  classifications,  known  as 
astronomy,  geology,  biology,  chemistry,  and  so 
on,  through  the  long  list  of  human  investigations. 
All  things  seen,  heard,  smelled,  tasted,  and  felt 
may,  in  fact,  be  illusions, — "  wrought  of  such  stuff 
as  dreams  are";  but  while  human  nature  is  or- 
ganized as  it  is,  they  are  extremely  satisfactory 
illusions,  worthy  of  all  study,  and  capable,  when 
properly  manipulated,  of  bringing  out  other  and 
still  more  satisfactory  illusions,  which  we  sum  up 
in  the  name  of  enlightened  civilization. 

Besides,  if  science  were  to  give  up  dealing  with 
phenomena,  it  would  have  to  go  out  of  business 
for  want  of  raw  material.  These  unrealities — if 
such  they  are — constitute  the  only  reality  in  the 
universe  that  man,  as  man,  is  fitted  to  apprehend. 
Scientists  might  follow  the  example  of  Buddha,  or 
Mary  Baker  Glover  Eddy,  and  weave  a  marvellous 
system  out  of  the  entrails  of  that  mystical  thing 
called  mind.  But  the  product  would  not  be 
science ;  it  would  be, — well,  a  web  woven  from  the 
entrails  of  that  mystical  thing  called  mind. 


A  Scientific  Religion  1 1 

"Things  as  they  are,  as  they  have  been,  and  as 
they  will  be" — let  them  be  shadows,  illusions,  or 
what  not — will  therefore  continue  to  be  the  warp 
and  woof  of  science.  It  cannot  afford  to  give  up 
hungry  facts  for  hectic  fancies,  no  matter  what 
dire  predictions  hinge  on  the  consequences. 

And  no  more  can  Mormonism.  It  finds  man- 
kind located  in  a  most  beautiful  world,  albeit  a 
world  of  phenomena,  or  illusions, — if  you  will.  It 
finds  those  phenomena  wonderfully  and  progres- 
sively related.  It  finds,  moreover,  that  they  are 
always  consistent  with  themselves,  and  may  be 
absolutely  relied  upon.  If  they  vary,  it  is  only 
during  vast  cycles, — cycles  quite  beyond  the 
range  of  any  one  generation;  so  that  the  farmer 
plants  beans  absolutely  without  any  lurking  fear 
that  the  crop  may  turn  out  squash. 

It  finds  on  the  other  hand  that  man  is  pri- 
marily and  most  emphatically  fitted  to  apprehend 
these  phenomena,  and  but  dimly  fitted — perhaps 
not  at  all — with  powers  for  apprehending  the 
occult ;  and  to  the  extent  that  he  forms  harmoni- 
ous correspondences  with  these  same  illusions,  it 
finds  that  he  grows  in  wisdom,  power,  and  happi- 
ness. And  so  it  reasons  that  the  objects  of  sense 
proclaim  their  own  mission — the  development  of 
man;  and  consequently  that  the  experiences  of 
this  world  constitute  a  fabric  entirely  worthy  of 
religion, — especially  as  there  is  no  other,  save  the 
gauze  material  of  metaphysical  dreams. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  science  and  Mormonism 


12        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

see  things  in  this  world  primarily  in  the  same  way, 
and  also  reason  as  to  the  purpose  of  things  in  the 
same  way;  the  one  naming  its  product  civiliza- 
tion, the  other  religion;  both  coinciding  in  the 
final  generalization,  viz:  The  uplifting  of  the 
human  race. 

But  Mormonism  does  not  forget  that  ''things  as 
they  are,  as  they  have  been,  and  as  they  will  be  " 
result,  when  interpreted  by  man,  only  in  relative 
truth — truth  subject  to  constant  modification. 
Absolute  truth  it  defines  to  be  "things  as  they 
are,  as  they  have  been,  and  as  they  will  be,"  when 
interpreted  by  God.  And  right  here  rises  the 
problem  of  religion — the  only  reason,  in  fact,  for 
its  existence.  Can  man  come  into  possession  of 
absolute  truth?  In  other  words,  can  he  come  to 
look  at  things  from  God's  point  of  view?  For,  if 
he  cannot,  then  science  is  the  very  best  religion  he 
can  have. 

Here  the  two  systems  of  thought  divide :  Science 
is  sceptical,  Mormonism  confident.  Briefly  gen- 
eralized, the  teachings  of  Mormonism  on  this 
point  are:  (i)  that  apprehension  of  truth  is  the 
means  whereby  man  is  perfected  (is  made  like 
unto  God) ;  (2)  that  God  makes  use  of  relative  as 
well  as  of  absolute  truth  to  this  end;  (3)  that 
while  God's  point  of  view  might  guide  men  in  all 
their  investigations  (should  God  so  will),  the  unity 
of  His  purpose  respecting  the  race  would  preclude 
such  divine  guidance,  save  only  as  man  directs  his 
attention  to  what  God  would  have  him  learn  next ; 


A  Scientific  Religion  13 

(4)  that  relative  truth,  resulting  from  man's  point 
of  view,  and  absolute  truth,  resulting  from  God's 
point  of  view,  are  both  concerned  with  the  much 
contemned  phenomena,  or  so-called  illusions  of 
our  senses — such  phenomena  having  in  fact  been 
created  for  no  other  purpose. 

With  this  brief  general  statement  by  way  of 
justifying  the  title  for  this  book,  I  am  ready  to 
pass  on  to  more  specific  matters  in  the  domain 
alike  of  science  and  religion.  While  this  single 
fundamental  instance  of  agreement  could  not  have 
convinced  the  reader  respecting  the  thesis  of  this 
chapter,  I  hope  it  may  have  served  to  arouse  in- 
terest in  other  notable  instances  which  are  to 
follow. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    MORMON    CONCEPTION    OF   GOD 

Thou  shall  have  no  other  God  before  me. — Jehovah. 
Let  God  be  true,  even  though  it  make  every  man  a  liar. — 
Paul. 

THE  virility  of  religion,  as  an  ethical  modifier 
of  the  human  family,  lies,  at  the  last  analysis, 
in  its  conception  of  God.  Faith  dynamic  enough 
to  make  for  the  betterment  of  the  race,  must  be 
centred  in  a  Being  that  can  be  both  loved  and 
feared.  The  first  requisite,  therefore,  is  that  He 
be  a  Reality,  not  a  metaphysical  abstraction; 
and  the  second,  that  He  be  a  sympathetic  Reality. 
In  the  words  of  Paul,  we  must  first  believe  that 
He  is,  and  next  that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that 
diligently  seek  Him. 

In  that  word  "rewarder"  lie  summed  up  the 
foremost  qualities  which  a  live  faith  requires  in  its 
Divine  Source.  There  must  be  felt,  first  of  all,  a 
relationship  equivalent  to  that  of  parent  and 
child,  with  all  the  best  qualities  which  our  own 
lives  have  taught  us  to  associate  with  father 
and  mother ;  mercy,  forgiveness,  daily  guidance, 
anxiety,  protection,  a  haven  of  refuge  on  earth, 


Mormon  Conception  of  God         15 

and  ultimately  an  eternal  home.  And  we  must, 
moreover,  feel  that  we  can  safely  multiply  these 
parent-qualities  as  many  times  in  effectiveness,  as 
we  conceive  God  to  be  greater  than  man. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  a  salutary  restrainer  of 
evil  tendencies,  we  must  feel  God  to  be  the  omnip- 
otent creator  and  preserver  of  all  things;  whose 
omniscient  eye  beholds  even  our  secret  thoughts, 
and  whose  omnipresent  power  and  spirit  pervade 
to  shape  towards  righteousness — or  else  to  nullify 
— all  the  aspirations  and  deeds  of  men. 

Along  with  this  conception  of  God,  the  man 
•whose  faith  is  to  help  remove  mountains  (of  sin) 
must  have  a  conception  of  mankind  equally  defi- 
nite and  clear.  He  must  feel  himself  categorically 
a  child  of  God;  differing,  indeed,  in  degree  but 
not  in  kind  from  his  Father  in  heaven;  poten- 
tially free,  as  a  moral  agent,  and  actually  free,  to 
the  extent  that  he  has  emancipated  himself  from 
sin;  capable  of  "becoming  perfect  as  God  is  per- 
fect" (Matthew  v. :  48). 

Such  faith,  and  faith  in  such  objects,  is  enjoined 
on  almost  every  page  of  Holy  Writ;  and  as  long 
as  mankind  worshipped  the  God  in  whose  image 
(physical  as  well  as  otherwise)  man  was  created; 
who  walked  as  a  man  walks,  in  the  Garden  of  Eden ; 
who  conversed  with  Noah  as  one  man  converses 
with  another ;  whose  glorified  person  Moses  beheld 
on  Mt.  Sinai;  whose  voice  said  in  articulate 
words:  "This  is  my  beloved  Son";  whom  Ste- 
phen, the  first  martyr,  looking  into  heaven,  saw 


1 6        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

side  by  side  with  the  risen  Redeemer ;  whom  John 
the  Revelator  saw,  seated  on  a  great  white  throne, 
—as  long,  I  repeat,  as  mankind  believed  actively 
in  the  Christ-type  of  God,  their  faith  was  a  living, 
virile  force,  which  shaped  their  daily  lives  in  di- 
rections known  peculiarly  to  themselves  and  the 
eye  of  their  Maker. 

Then  came  the  expansion  of  Man's  idea  of  the 
physical  universe,  and  with  it  the  mistaken  de- 
mands of  reason  for  a  conception  of  God  commen- 
surate with  the  new  ideas  of  infinitude.  Greek 
philosophy  offered  such  a  conception.  St.  John's 
remark,  that  "God  is  a  spirit,"  *  was  accordingly 
made  the  scriptural  point  of  departure  from  the 
"  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,"  to  the  God 
of  Buddha. 

Into  Buddha's  cold  abstraction,  theologians 
have  since  been  trying  to  inject  the  warm  qualities 
of  Jehovah, — with  what  success,  from  an  aca- 
demic point  of  view,  let  the  contradictions  of 
metaphysics  bear  witness;  with  what  failure  in 
the  ethical  betterment  of  the  race,  let  the  apathy 
and  artificiality  of  the  so-called  liberal  or  intel- 
lectualized  churches  of  to-day  declare ! 

1  This  passage,  the  only  one  that  could  be  swerved  into  a 
support  of  the  Indo-Graechic  conception  of  Deity,  ought,  in 
all  conscience  to  be  understood  in  consonance  with  the  rest  of 
the  Bible.  "God  is  a  spirit."  Well,  is  not  Christ  also — are 
we  not  all  spirits?  The  spirit  is  the  man — the  body  is 
merely  a  house.  If  this  interpretation  does  not  satisfy, 
there  is  still  another  which  would  leave  our  Father  in  heaven 
a  personal  being.  That  is  to  consider  the  passage  as  referring 
to  God,  the  Holy  Ghost. 


Mormon  Conception  of  God         17 

These  latter  are,  indeed,  fine  places  to  be  "re- 
spectable" in ;  for  which  reason  they  are  no  longer 
social  or  racial  workshops.  It  is  not  here  that 
movements  affecting  the  destiny  of  the  race  orig- 
inate, but  in  clubs,  guilds,  unions,  and  other 
secular  organizations.  True,  they  still  stand  on 
the  topmost  branch  of  the  social  tree,  by  virtue  of 
past  growth ;  but  the  vitality  of  the  roots  is  run- 
ning into  lower  branches.1 

The  trouble  is,  that  philosophic  theories  have 
supplanted  the  living  faith.  That  there  is  left  any 
warmth  or  virility  of  faith  whatever  in  such 
creeds,  is  evidently  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  God 
of  the  Bible  still  lingers,  though  in  a  most  con- 
tradictory fashion,  in  the  person  of  Jesus  the 
Redeemer.  But  how  long — with  the  Buddhist  con- 
ception for  a  Father — will  it  be  before  Christ,  too, 
shall  be  spiritualized  to  an  essence,  boundless  as 
the  universe? 

1  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  because  a  man's  re- 
ligion becomes  perfunctory  he  ceases  to  be  a  factor  in  social 
evolution.  Rockefeller  remained  an  irreproachable  church 
member,  so  Miss  Tarbell  assures  us,  even  during  the  dark 
days  when  the  Standard  Oil  Trust  was  incubating.  In  view 
of  the  part  trusts  are  to  play  in  future  civilization,  who  will 
say  now  that  in  part,  at  least,  the  motive  dominating  this 
far-seeing  man,  was  not  the  ultimate  good  of  mankind?  Be 
this  as  it  may,  my  point  is,  his  church  was  evidently  not  his 
social  laboratory,  nor  did  its  atmosphere  pervade  his  business 
life.  It  was  rather  a  high,  clean,  sun-bathed  mountain,  to 
which  he  could  retire,  at  intervals,  from  the  smoke-begrimed 
sin-bespattered,  warring  life  in  the  social  valley.  So  far 
from  taking  religion  with  them  down  into  the  plains  of  social 
and  economic  strife,  men  like  him  would  perhaps  be  the  first 
to  say,  "Let  the  Church  keep  her  place!" 


i8        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Looked  at  superficially,  the  question  whether 
God  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  boundless  spiritualized 
essence,  or  as  the  personal  Prototype  of  man, 
would  seem  to  be  immaterial.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  no  question  could  be  more  vital  to  the  unity 
of  man's  conceptions.  It  enters  into  and  condi- 
tions for  him  the  whole  aspect  of  the  universe, 
from  large  to  small.  Let  us  therefore  examine 
the  question  more  narrowly. 

The  only  conception  that  any  people  can  pos- 
sibly have  of  Deity,  is  one  which  comes  within 
their  mental  horizon — the  horizon  bounded  by 
their  experience.  Into  His  personality  they  will 
•  think  their  highest  and  noblest  ideals.  What  they 
love  most,  fear  most,  admire  most,  will  somehow 
be  found  among  his  attributes.  To  the  extent, 
and  in  the  direction,  that  they  are  civilized  and 
enlightened,  to  that  extent  and  in  that  direction 
will  He  be  idealized. 

It  was  therefore  a  profound  remark  of  our 
Saviour,  that  to  know  God  is  to  have  eternal  life. 
No  one  can  know  Him  save  as  he  becomes  like 
Him.  To  know  Him  absolutely,  is  therefore  to 
be  perfect  as  He  is  perfect,  which  of  course  could 
be  nothing  else  than  eternal  life. 

By  the  same  reasoning,  to  know  Him  in  part  is 
to  be  like  Him  in  part,  and  therefore  to  be  saved 
in  part;  or,  to  generalize,  we  are  saved  (i.  e.,  we 
have  eternal  life  assured  unto  us)  no  faster  than  we 
learn  to  know  God ;  in  other  words,  no  faster  than 
we  become  like  Him. 


Mormon  Conception  of  God        19 

But  becoming  like  Him  implies  a  progres- 
sive means  of  getting  ideas  about  Him.  Let  us 
take  time  to  see  how  this  thought  works  out  in 
practice. 

To  know  God  is  to  have  adequate  notions  of 
His  personality  in,  say,  five  different  aspects: 
physically,  intellectually,  socially,  morally,  and 
spiritually.  Manifestly  these  notions  can  come 
to  man  only  as  God  reveals  them.  The  germ 
ideas  respecting  His  personality  are  to  be  found 
in  Scripture;  but  these  are  meaningless,  save  as 
man  thinks  into  them  the  content  of  his  experi- 
ence. The  real  revelation  of  God  to  man  is, 
therefore,  to  be  found  in  that  which  gives  man 
experience:  in  life — nature — law. 

If  a  man  would  have  the  noblest  ideal  of  God's 
physical  personality  let  him  master  all  that  is 
known  of  physiology  and  hygiene— and  conform 
his  own  life  thereto;  if  he  would  realize  His  in- 
tellectual personality  let  him  become  familiar 
with  the  elements  of  intellect  in  man,  then  calcu- 
late what  must  be  the  Intellect  that  could  create 
and  control  a  solar  system,  with  all  the  myriad 
forms  of  life  and  being  therein  manifested ;  if  he 
would  know  God's  social  personality,  let  him 
study  sociology,  determine  what  qualities  in  man 
lead  to  love  and  harmony:  in  the  home,  in  the 
state,  in  the  nation,  in  the  world, — and  then  con- 
sider that  God  has  so  mastered  these  laws  that 
heaven  (ideal  social  harmony)  is  His  eternal 
habitat;  and  so  of  God's  moral  and  spiritual 


20        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

personalities:  to  the  extent  that  man  discovers 
and  lives  moral  and  spiritual  law, — to  that  extent 
he  will  know  God. 

It  follows  therefore  from  the  very  nature  of 
things,  that  the  honest  man's  conception  of  God 
is  a  progressively  growing  ideal.  As,  day  by  day, 
he  discovers  law  (truth),  and  especially  as  he  con- 
forms his  life  to  law  (obeys  truth),  so  must  his 
ideal  of  the  Ordainer  of  law  change;  and  let  no 
council  of  ecclesiastics  presume  to  lay  an  embargo 
on  his  soul,  by  pronouncing  once  for  all  what  God 
is  or  is  not. 

But  this  latter  was  precisely  what  St.  Augustine 
and  his  brother  monks  tried  to  do  for  mankind. 
Consider  for  a  moment  with  what  possible  hope  of 
success.  How  much  did  these  men  know  of  that 
greater  revelation  of  God,  the  book  of  nature, 
which  flooded  the  last  century  with  light?  In- 
terpreting Deity,  as  perforce  they  must,  by  the 
content  of  their  experience,  think  what  a  narrow 
emanation  of  the  life  of  the  Dark  Ages  their  con- 
ception had  to  be ! 

What  of  His  physical  personality,  considered 
from  the  standpoint  of  ascetics, — men  who  de- 
spised the  human  body  as  something  viler  than 
the  rags  of  a  beggar? 

What  of  His  intellectual  personality,  interpreted 
by  an  age  dogmatic  and  unscientific  to  the  last 
degree? 

What  of  His  social  and  moral  personality,  mir- 
rored in  the  imaginations  of  men,  whose  highest 


Mormon  Conception  of  God         21 

social  ideal  was  to  shirk  all  contact  with,  and  re- 
sponsibility for  the  world,  by  living  in  caves,  con- 
vents, and  monasteries? 

What  of  His  spiritual  personality,  judged  of  by 
beings  who  wore  stones  away  with  their  knees, 
believing  that  mere  adoration  was  pleasing  to 
Him? 

Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  when  men  began  to 
study  science;  when  they  went  direct  to  nature 
for  their  ideals;  when  they  read  God's  purpose 
concerning  man  by  studying  man  himself,  es- 
pecially in  his  relation  to  social  evolution, — is  it 
any  wonder  that  they  turned  away  from  the  arti- 
ficial conception  promulgated  by  theologians? 

For  was  not  this  idea  of  God,  after  all,  only  an 
intensified  conception  of  the  mediaeval  monarch; 
whose  approbation  was  to  be  gained,  and  whose 
anger  appeased,  through  the  mediation  of  court 
favorites  (saints,  angels,  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  Son 
of  God),  who  might  be  bribed  or  cajoled  into 
pleading  the  sinner's  cause? 

Such  a  conception  could  not  co-exist  with  ideals 
attained  through  the  larger  generalizations  of  life. 
To  find  pleasure  in  the  servile  prostration  of  mul- 
titudes, is  not  now  conceived  a  noble  trait  even  in 
kings ;  less,  therefore,  in  the  King  of  kings. 

To  make  life  and  death  dependent  on  the  mere 
caprice  of  human  will,  we  have  now  come  to  be- 
lieve unjust  and  dangerous,  and  accordingly  have 
substituted  the  reign  of  human  law;  in  the  same 
way,  eternal  life  has  come  to  be  conceived  as 


22        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

dependent,  not  upon  the  favor  or  anger  of  Deity 
(in  the  mediaeval  sense),  but  upon  divine  law 
(i.  e.,  the  laws  of  the  universe). 

But  in  this  shifting  of  the  ultimate  Source  of 
volition  and  responsibility,  a  great  mistake  was 
made.  Instead  of  stripping  from  the  Christ  or 
Bible  type  of  Deity  all  the  vagaries  and  arti- 
ficialities in  which  he  had  been  clothed  during  the 
Dark  Ages,  and  then  reclothing  Him  according  to 
the  ideals  of  modern  life,  scientists  overthrew  the 
type  itself;  and  after  awhile  theologians  caught 
up  by  substituting  a  vague  generalization, — first 
fathered  by  Buddha  and  afterwards  developed  by 
Plato, — under  the  mistaken  notion  that  such  a 
'concession  was  necessary  in  order  to  patch  up  the 
breach  between  science  and  religion.  I  repeat 
that  a  great  mistake  was  made;  for,  after  all, 
what  type  of  creative  intelligence,  other  than  the 
man-type,  can  the  race  possibly  come  in  contact 
with?  Why,  then,  throw  away  the  teachings  of 
experience,  from  some  fancy  that  it  may  be  in- 
adequate, and  build  upon  non-experience,  which 
we  know  is  inadequate? 

The  point  of  the  foregoing  discussion,  so  far  as 
the  present  volume  is  concerned,  is  this:  Mor- 
monism, though  starting  as  it  did,  in  the  blaze  of 
a  scientific  age,  yet  took  for  its  object  of  worship 
the  Bible-type  of  God ;  but  it  did  not  load  itself 
down  with  the  incubus  of  mediaeval  interpretation. 

Like  Christ,  God  is  conceived  as  the  perfected 
man;  but  as  to  the  meaning  of  " perfected,"  no 


Mormon  Conception  of  God         23 

theologian  of  the  past,  however  wise  in  the  esti- 
mation of  Christendom,  can  have  a  voice:  each 
man  knows  God  to  the  extent  that  he  has  grown 
like  Him;  and  he  has  grown  like  Him  to  the  ex- 
tent that  he  has  discovered  and  obeyed  law. 

Mormonism  thus  finds  in  life,  not  in  meta- 
physical speculation,  its  commentary  upon  Scrip- 
ture. Accordingly,  let  the  reader  come  to  this 
book,  not  with  the  pre-judgment  that  he  is  to 
witness  the  setting  up  again  of  a  conception  which 
has  fallen  a  hundred  times  in  previous  polemical 
battles ;  but  rather  with  the  idea  that  Mormonism 
may  have  something  new  and  entirely  worthy  of 
modern  thought.  For  however  true  of  the  Au- 
gustinian  conception,  Carlyle's  jibe  of  "  an  absentee 
God,  sitting  idle  ever  since  the  first  Sabbath  on 
the  outside  of  His  universe,  and  seeing  it  go"- 
has  no  meaning  whatever  in  the  conception  be- 
lieved in  by  Latter  day  Saints. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   QUESTION   OF   GOD'S   PERSONALITY   ARGUED 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  I  have  assumed,  partly 
on  the  authority  of  Scripture,  partly  from  the 
necessity  involved  in  a  living,  virile  faith,  that 
the  personal  or  Christ-type  of  God  is  true,  and 
the  Buddhistic  or  universal-spirit  type  is  false. 

The  proposition  is,  however,  of  such  vital  im- 
portance— reaching  as  it  does  into  every  thought 
and  act  of  our  lives — that  it  should  not  rest  upon 
these  good  foundations,  if  better  can  be  estab- 
lished. Accordingly,  I  shall,  in  the  two  chapters 
which  follow,  attempt  a  series  of  parallels  between 
the  two  conceptions  in  their  relation  to  life  itself. 

One  preliminary,  however,  needs  to  be  taken 
into  account  on  the  start.  Science  insists  that 
truth  can  be  known  to  man  only  by  experience; 
and  that,  consequently,  the  basis  for  the  credi- 
bility of  any  reasoning,  speculative  or  otherwise, 
must  be  that  its  premises  are  realities.  In  this 
discussion  I  shall  insist  strongly  upon  the  law  of 
experience  being  kept  in  view.  A  little  reflection 
must  show  how  valueless  is  any  system,  however 
logical,  that  is  not  formed  on  this  law. 

24 


God's  Personality  25 

Buddha,  for  instance,  retires  into  the  darkness 
of  a  cave  to  escape  the  " tyranny  of  his  senses"; 
in  other  words,  to  escape  the  truths  of  experience. 
There,  untrammelled  by  the  necessity  of  conform- 
ing to  objective  law,  his  mind  weaves  a  beautiful 
and  most  perfect  system  of  soul-evolution ;  which, 
because  of  its  unexampled  logical  unity,  he  soon 
comes  to  believe  is  real,  and  in  due  time,  that  it 
is  the  only  reality. 

All  this  is  marvellous  enough;  but  what  shall 
we  say  to  the  greater  marvel  of  millions  of  people, 
in  every  age  since  then,  disavowing  all  experience 
as  mere  shadows  and  accepting  this  dream  as  the 
criterion  of  life !  Suppose  the  first  timepiece  had 
been  evolved  in  the  same  way;  should  we  have 
apotheosized  the  watchmaker,  and  thereafter 
treated  the  movements  of  sun,  moon,  and  stars  as 
base  illusions ! 

To  make  a  beginning  then,  at  the  beginning, — 
let  us  contemplate  the  largest  truth  of  which  the 
human  mind  is  capable;  a  truth,  moreover,  con- 
cerning which  all  minds  must  agree,  viz.,  the  form- 
lessness, the  reality,  the  unity,  the  homogeneity, 
the  integrity,  the  harmony,  the  infinitude  both  in 
time  and  space,  and,  withal,  the  mystery, — of  the 
uncreated  universe.  We  need  not  reason,  indeed 
we  cannot  reason,  to  these  aspects  of  the  All- 
in- All.  We  have  only  to  open  our  souls  and 
they  pour  in  to  the  extent  of  our  capacity. 
Nor  can  we  reason  these  intuitions  out  of  our- 
selves :  insanity  might  temporarily  obscure  them, 


26        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

but    soul-atrophy   alone    could    deprive    us    of 
them.1 

Other  aspects,  though  dependent  upon  percep- 
tion and  inference,  are  almost  as  self-evident. 
One  of  these  is  the  fact  that  the  universe  is  not 
empty,  but  full.  Full  of  what?  Ah,  there  we 
come  face  to  face  with  the  Mystery.  We  call  it 
ether — quite  as  if  that  signified  something.  Let 
us  rather  say,  full  of  power,  static,  quiescent, — a 
dark,  silent  ocean  of  energy  out  of  which  forces 
rise,  and  into  which  they  sink,  after  they  have 
played  their  transitory  parts  before  the  mimic 
stage  of  our  senses ;  say  rather  that  the  universe  is 
full  of  the  mother-essence  of  creation,  out  of  which 
Invention  has  formed  worlds  without  number, 
and  the  resources  of  which  Invention  shall  never 
exhaust. 

It  is  precisely  at  this  point — the  point  at  which 
the  uncreated  becomes  the  created — that  the 
problem  of  religion  begins.  How  and  by  what 
agency  the  "formed"  and  "limited"  comes  out 
of  the  womb  of  the  " formless"  and  "  limitless  " 
this  is  a  question  that  immediately  begins  to 
divide  mankind.  And  to  this  question,  therefore, 
let  us  first  address  our  attention. 

In  Salt  Lake  City  is  a  beautiful  temple  of  gray 

1  Let  me  ask  the  reader  to  realize  as  far  as  possible  the 
thought  involved  in  this  paragraph,  by  re-reading  it  and 
testing  each  word  by  introspection ;  that  is,  by  referring  it  to 
his  own  native  intuitions,  thereby  forming  some  judgment 
of  its  truth. 


God's  Personality  27 

granite,  and  in  one  of  the  canyons  to  the  east  is 
the  quarry  whence  its  massive  walls  were  drawn. 
Consider  then,  these  two  objects :  the  gray  gran- 
ite mountain  in  the  clouds,  the  gray  granite 
temple  in  the  valley.  What  is  the  relationship  be- 
tween them?  Did  the  mountain  brood  and  bring 
into  being  the  temple?  If  not,  was  there  an 
"All-soul"  deep  in  the  bosom  of  the  ancient 
Wasatch  range  that  conceived  this  magnificent 
piece  of  architecture,  then  shaped  the  rugged 
cliffs  into  geometrical  blocks,  and  laid  them  one 
upon  another?  Or,  if  not  the  soul  of  the  moun- 
tain or  the  soul  of  the  range,  perhaps  it  was  the 
soul  of  the  earth;  or  of  the  solar  system;  or  did 
the  universe  itself  bring  about  this  substantial 
piece  of  creation? 

If  these  questions  seem  palpably  absurd,  the 
reader  is  kindly  requested  to  exercise  patience  till 
the  analogy  is  completed. 

Science  practically  agrees  with  Scripture  that 
there  was  a  time  when  the  space  now  occupied  by 
the  solar  system — a  very  lonely  part  of  the  uni- 
verse, so  astronomers  tell  us — was  "without  form 
and  void";  that  is  to  say,  it  exhibited  all  the 
formlessness,  quiescence,  and  homogeneity  of  the 
rest  of  the  uncreated  universe. 

Why  did  it  not  continue  so  forever?  Who  or 
what  caused  the  change?  What  is  the  relation- 
ship between  that  first  state  and  the  present  ?  Did 
the  "All-soul"  residing  within  this  sphere  of  preg- 
nant space, — the  sphere  bounded  by  Neptune— 


28        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

conceive  the  sun  and  his  satellites,  then  bring 
them  blazing  forth  in  the  dark  abyss  ?  Or  was  the 
moving  cause  of  this  transcendent  marvel  the 
"All-soul"  of  the  million -fold  greater  sphere, 
whose  radius  sweeps  the  nearest  fixed  star?  Or 
did  the  creative  act  spring  out  of  the  universe 
itself? 

The  solar  system  could  not  have  come  about 
without  a  cause.  To  call  that  cause  God,  brings 
us  not  a  single  step  nearer  the  solution  of  the 
problem;  save  perhaps  that  it  narrows  the  ques- 
tion to,  What  is  God? 

Of  all  the  conceptions  that  have  at  various  ages 
held  the  attention  of  mankind,  only  two  survive 
the  enlightenment  of  the  present  century,  the 
Buddhistic  conception  and  the  Biblical.  Accord- 
ing to  the  first,  God,  if  not  the  universe,  is  at  least 
co-extensive  with  the  universe;  an  essence  per- 
meating every  infinitesimal  portion  of  boundless 
space;  a  spirit,  dormant  or  quiescent  in  the  un- 
created universe,  but  active  and  dynamic — the 
animating  principle — in  the  created  universe ;  the 
noumenon,  or  only  Reality;  out  of  which  phe- 
nomena— that  is  to  say,  illusions — arise,  and  back 
into  which  they  must  inevitably  melt  or  sink; 
the  boundless  and  eternal  uncaused  cause  of  all 
things. 

In  so  far  as  a  rational  conception  of  God  can 
be  gathered  from  the  very  irrational  definitions 
given  in  numerous  confessions  of  faith,  this  is 
also  practically  the  conception  of  modern  Chris- 


God's  Personality  29 

tianity;  l  save  that  its  advocates,  while  they  de- 
rive all  created  things — phenomena — from  the 
uncreated  universe  (or  God),  have  nevertheless 
not  the  courage  of  the  Buddhists  to  carry  their 
premises  to  their  inexorable  conclusion,  viz.,  that 
these  phenomena,  these  semi-illusions  exhibited 
to  our  senses  by  form  and  limitation,  must  in- 
evitably go  back, — melt,  sink  again, — into  the  un- 
created universe;  in  other  words,  that  creation 
must  be  followed  by  Nirvana. 

Various  and  fantastic  have  been  the  attempts 
at  conveying  an  idea  of  the  modern  Christian  God. 
The  Church  of  England  is,  perhaps,  clearest  in  its 
announcement  of  the  immateriality  of  Deity ;  de- 
claring Him  to  be  ''without  body,  parts,  or  pas- 
sions, and  of  infinite  power  and  wisdom";  then, 
very  illogically,  announcing  that  in  the  "unity  of 

1  Here  is  the  conception  set  forth  in  the  Athanasian  creed, 
a  conception  followed,  with  modifications,  by  most  sects  of 
Christendom:  "We  worship  one  God  in  trinity,  and  trinity 
in  unity;  neither  confounding  the  persons,  nor  dividing  the 
substance.  For  there  is  one  person  of  the  Father,  another 
of  the  Son,  and  another  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  the  God- 
head of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  is  all  one;  the 
glory  equal,  the  majesty  co-eternal.  Such  as  the  Father  is, 
such  is  the  Son,  and  such  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Father  un- 
create, the  Son  uncreate,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  uncreate.  The 
Father  incomprehensible,  the  Son  incomprehensible,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  incomprehensible." — To  which  we  may  fairly 
add:  this  definition  is  incomprehensible.  For  how  can  God 
be  "formed"  and  "limited"  (i.  e.,  as  three  separate  persons), 
and  at  the  same  time  be  "formless"  and  " limitless " (i.  e.,  un- 
create) ?  It  is  stultification  of  this  kind  that  has  brought  re- 
ligion into  contempt  with  thinking  minds. 


30        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

this  Godhead  there  be  three  persons!"  -quite 
ignoring  the  distinction  between  the  limited  and 
the  limitless. 

From  current  religious  discussions  may  be  gath- 
ered the  notion  that  He  is  a  being  whose  cir- 
cumference is  everywhere  and  whose  centre  is 
nowhere ;  who  sits  on  the  top  of  a  topless  throne 
beyond  the  bounds  of  time  and  space.  But  as 
there  is  neither  centre  nor  circumference  to  that 
which  is  boundless,  nor  top  to  that  which  is  top- 
less, and  no  beyond  to  time  and  space,  such  ex- 
planations are  beneath  the  dignity  of  ministers  of 
the  Gospel. 

Although  this  conception  of  God  as  an  imma- 
terial, omnipresent  Spirit,  is  prevalent  among 
modern  Christian  churches,  it  is  by  no  means 
traceable  to  the  teachings  of  Christ.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  represents  two  distinct  compromises  of 
the  religion  of  Christ  with  secular  cosmogonies. 
The  first  was  with  the  philosophy  of  Greece  as 
represented  by  Athanasius  and  the  school  of  Greek 
dialecticians  who  joined  the  church  during  the 
third  and  fourth  centuries.  By  the  Athanasian 
Creed  (quoted  in  a  footnote)  God  is  called  a  per- 
son, which  of  course  represents  the  Bible  side  of 
the  controversy.  But  in  the  next  breath  He  is 
pronounced  uncreate,  which  makes  Him  without 
form;  the  definition  thereby  violating  the  second 
law  of  thought,  viz.,  a  thing  cannot  be,  and  not 
be  at  the  same  time.  True,  by  the  powerful 
writings  of  St.  Augustine,  the  personal  aspect  was 


God's  Personality  31 

kept  in  the  ascendency  down  until  the  eighteenth 
century.  Unfortunately,  Augustine  associated 
with  the  Bible  conception  such  human  limitations 
of  Deity, — including  also  the  doctrine  of  the  total 
depravity  of  man, — that  his  ideas  became  un- 
tenable before  the  onslaught  of  evolutionary 
philosophy;  and  when  they  fell  the  idea  of  a 
personal  God  fell  with  them. 

The  second  compromise — which  was  all  but  a 
complete  surrender — was  to  modern  science;  for 
to  the  extent  that  science  is  not  agnostic, — that 
is  to  say,  in  so  far  as  science  applies  the  name  God 
to  any  of  its  concepts, — it,  too,  accepts  as  most 
rational  the  Buddhistic  idea,  that  of  the  imma- 
nent God,  the  indwelling  Spirit  of  life.  For  does 
not  this  idea  admirably  explain  the  vivifying  prin- 
ciple in  nature, — the  source  and  meaning — to 
borrow  Spencer's  phrase — of  that  "infinite  and 
eternal  energy  whence  all  things  proceed?  "  Does 
it  not  also  explain  the  unity  and  harmony  so  mani- 
fest in  the  universe? 

Another  rapidly  growing  cult — which  might  be 
roughly  classed  as  transcendental,  keeping  in 
mind  both  the  good  and  bad  sense  of  the  word ;  a 
cult  in  whose  front  ranks  stand  such  rational 
thinkers  as  Emerson  and  Carlyle,  but  whose  wings 
and  vanguards  are  marshalled  into  line  by  such 
dreamers  as  Madame  Blavatsky  and  Mrs.  Mary 
Baker  Glover  Eddy — also  accept  as  the  basis  of 
their  various  philosophies  this  same  background 
of  things  knowable,  the  Buddhistic  conception  of 


32         The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Deity.  So  that  this  doctrine  of  Pantheism — for 
such  it  is,  more  or  less  modified, — holds  all  but 
universal  sway  among  civilized  peoples  at  the 
present  time. 

In  view  of  this  fact  it  would  seem  to  argue  un- 
usual temerity  for  a  handful  of  people  like  the 
Mormons  to  hold  up  and  proclaim  the  old-fash- 
ioned conception  of  God  as  a  glorified,  perfected, 
personal  Being,  the  Father  of  the  human  race  and 
its  prototype  in  every  sense ;  physically,  intellec- 
tually, socially,  morally,  and  spiritually.  To  be 
sure,  such  is  the  revelation  of  Him  in  the  Bible. 
As  before  pointed  out,  from  the  first  page  in 
Genesis,  where  man  is  represented  as  being  made 
in  His  image,  to  the  last  page  of  Revelations, 
where  He  is  represented  as  seated  on  the  great 
white  throne, — in  almost  every  chapter  of  holy 
writ  we  get  the  conception  of  a  personal  God. 

Nor  do  Mormons  alone  get  this  idea  from  Scrip- 
ture :  all  men  do,  who  have  no  esoteric  meanings 
to  read  into  the  sacred  text.  But  not  all  men  can 
withstand  the  bombardment  of  speculative  phi- 
losophy. Let  a  college  professor  explain,  with  his 
fine  air  of  superiority,  that  only  in  a  crude  age  of 
the  world's  history  did  mankind  hold  so  narrow 
and  degraded  a  conception  of  Deity,  and  these 
honest  but  entirely  exoteric  readers  of  Scripture 
blush  for  their  ignorance  and  straightway  go  over 
to  the  popular  side. 

Only  the  sturdy  convictions  of  a  Mormon  can 
withstand  the  contempt  hurled  in  the  word  "an- 


God's  Personality  33 

thropomorphism "  and  similar  philosophic  brick- 
bats. "  Fancy  God  using  His  legs ! "  exclaimed  an 
elegant  preacher  of  righteousness.  Well,  my  fine 
bird,  fancy  the  Redeemer  of  mankind  not  doing 
so!  And  yet  Jesus  is  pronounced  by  Paul  to  be 
the  "  brightness  of  his  Father's  glory,  the  express 
image  of  His  person. "  It  is  not  least  of  the  evils 
of  this  Buddhistic  philosophy  that  the  mental 
palate  becomes  so  finical  as  to  reject  merely 
natural  phenomena  as  coarse  and  contemptible. 


CHAPTER  V 

ARGUMENT  FOR  THE  PERSONALITY  OF  GOD — 

(Continued) 

IT  is  not  my  purpose  to  contend  that  the  Mor- 
mon conception  of  God  is  that  of  the  revela- 
tions of  Scripture.  This  will  probably  be  conceded. 
The  vital  question  here  is,  How  does  this  concep- 
tion work  out  in  the  revelations  of  nature? 

In  passing,  I  may  merely  mention  the  old  phi- 
losophic difficulties  connected  with  the  non-Mor- 
mon or  pantheistic  conception,  viz.,  that  if  God 
is  immanent,  that  is  to  say,  the  animating  prin- 
ciple in  all  things,  He  must  be  the  author  both  of 
good  and  evil ;  conversely,  if  man  has  no  psychic 
existence  separate  from  God,  he  is  not  free,  and, 
therefore,  not  responsible, — either  of  which  de- 
stroys a  vital  principle  in  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ.  These  difficulties  have  never  been  squared, 
and  it  is  safe  to  say  never  will  be,  with  Chris- 
tianity's present  notion  of  Deity. 

But  it  would,  perhaps,  be  unprofitable  to  pursue 
this  dilemma ;  let  us  rather  take  the  two  concep- 
tions and  set  before  each  the  problem  of  creation ; 
and  in  order  to  simplify  matters,  let  the  problem 

34 


Personality  of  God  35 

involve  only  a  single  series,  such  as  the  creation 
of  our  own  cosmos,  the  sun  and  his  retinue  of 
worlds,  down  to  the  last  ripple  of  created  move- 
ment, say  of  the  animalcule  swimming,  with 
ocean-like  freedom,  in  a  drop  of  water. 

First,  then,  did  the  "All-soul,"  the  reservoir  of 
quiescent  force,  the  spirit  or  essence  filling  the  un- 
created universe,  brood  and  bring  forth  the  solar 
system  ? 

Such  a  thought  is  absolutely  fantastical.  Where 
in  the  experience  of  all  mankind,  did  a  block  or 
cube  of  pure  space  ever  do  anything  resembling 
the  invention  and  execution  involved  in  an  act  of 
creation?  I  challenge  any  philosopher  to  pro- 
duce from  experience, — and  experience,  remem- 
ber, is  the  criterion  of  science, — even  the  remotest 
analogy  for  such  a  thing.  It  is  the  absurdity  of 
the  mountain  creating  the  temple. 

We  might  indeed  imagine  intelligent  beings 
walking  about  this  earth,  but  so  hooded  as  to  see 
results — cities  springing  up  on  the  plain,  locomo- 
tives dashing  across  the  continent,  steamers  plow- 
ing the  ocean — without  perceiving  the  agents. 
These  might  be  pardoned  for  theorizing  that 
somehow  an  "  All-soul"  residing  in  the  materials 
or  forces  making  up  a  created  thing,  is  the  effi- 
cient cause  of  the  creation ;  but  how  men  observ- 
ing daily  the  agency  involved  in  ten  thousand  acts 
of  creation,  could  come  to  so  crass  a  conclusion,  is 
explicable  only  by  remembering  Buddha  and  his 
dream. 


36        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Again,  by  this  conception  things  created  take 
form  and  outline  by  virtue  of  God's  being  the 
animating  principle.  He  is  conceived  as  the  all- 
pervading  spirit  of  nature — the  noumenon  behind 
all  phenomena.  The  human  soul  is  figured  as  a 
breath  of  Deity  breathed  into  the  clay  of  our 
mortal  habitation,  or  as  .a  spark  struck  from  the 
soul  of  God  himself. 

Now,  what  purpose,  what  possible  motive, 
could  a  spiritual  essence  co-extensive  with  the  uni- 
verse have  in  creating,  say,  our  solar  system  or 
any  other  system  for  that  matter?  It  could  not 
have  been  for  His  better  security,  since,  by  our 
very  conception,  He  is  the  All-in-All;  and  if  not 
for  His  security,  then  I  can  see  only  two  other  mo- 
tives— His  improvement  or  His  diversion.  The 
first  we  may  dismiss  at  once,  for  how  can  that 
which  is  infinitely  perfect  have  need  of  improve- 
ment by  finite  entanglements? 

There  remains  then  the  last  consideration.  We 
are  to  contemplate  the  probability  that  the  ' '  All- 
soul"  of  the  universe  has  involved  that  infini- 
tesimal portion  of  Himself  which  is  bounded  by 
the  orbit  of  Neptune,  into  a  blazing  sun,  a  con- 
geries of  glowing,  dead,  and  dying  worlds,  shooting 
stars  and  wandering  comets,  ice-capped  poles  and 
belching  volcanoes,  strutting  bipeds  and  buzzing 
insects, — all  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  the  ennui, 
the  monotony,  of  eternal  bliss ! 

Is  it  thinkable?  I  shall  no  doubt  be  charged 
with  blasphemy  for  daring  to  ask  the  meaning  of 


Personality  of  God  37 

creation.  "  It  is  not  for  the  finite  to  question  the 
Infinite.  We  do  not  know — cannot  know — what 
God's  motives  are."  Which  objection  is  precisely 
the  conclusion  I  have  aimed  to  reach,  viz.,  crea- 
tion, with  the  Buddhistic  conception  of  God  as 
Creator,  is  motiveless,  purposeless,  from  man's 
point  of  view. 

And  if  this  be  so,  what  assurance,  from  the 
standpoint  of  reason,  has  man  that  things  formed 
and  limited  will  endure,  i.  e.,  that  there  is  eternal 
existence  for  worlds,  eternal  life  for  man? 

Buddhism  answers  by  flatly  denying  the  possi- 
bility; asserting,  moreover,  that  there  is  eternal 
life  (and  bliss)  for  man  only  in  Nirvana,  the  un- 
created, or,  as  applied  from  our  present  point  of 
view,  the  decreated  state;  in  other  words,  that 
state  in  which  the  God-essence  forming  man's  soul 
is  completely  disentangled  from  matter  and  re- 
absorbed  in  God. 

This  is  undoubtedly  the  legitimate  and  logical 
outcome  of  such  a  conception  of  Deity.  And  yet 
to  the  Christian,  Nirvana,  involving  as  it  does  the 
complete  loss  of  self-consciousness  or  sense  of 
individual  identity,  is  the  worst  state  imag- 
inable: it  is  worse  than  the  second  death — it  is 
annihilation. 

Accordingly,  he  refuses  to  follow  out  the  inex- 
orable logic  of  his  Oriental  premises,  but  stops 
half-way  to  build  him  a  heaven  in  which  shall  re- 
side a  risen  Redeemer — limited,  remember,  as  to 
form — with  multitudes  of  other  individualized 


38        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

beings,  including  himself;  together  with  thrones, 
mansions,  cities  with  pearly  gates,  and  streets 
paved  with  gold, — for  all  which  he  claims  eternal 
duration ;  whereby,  though  he  has  repudiated  the 
only  premises  (i.  e.,  the  personal  God  of  the  Bible) 
which  make  possible  either  the  organization  or 
the  eternal  perpetuity  of  such  a  Heaven,  he  yet 
very  illogically  holds,  fast  to  the  conclusion  from 
the  premises  set  aside. 

His  clinging  to  the  scriptural  Heaven  makes 
him,  in  fact,  twice  illogical;  first,  in  repudiating 
the  conclusion  of  premises  he  accepts  (i.  e.,  Nir- 
vana) ;  and  second,  in  accepting  the  conclusion  of 
premises  he  repudiates  (i.  e.,  Heaven).  But  bless 
him  for  his  inconsistency.  It  shows  that  the 
vagaries  of  philosophy  affect  only  his  head;  his 
heart,  which  is  the  altar  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  still 
beats  loyal  to  the  true  God. 

Need  I  point  out  that  from  the  Mormon  concep- 
tion, creation  becomes  immediately  intelligible? 
The  solar  system  was  constructed  in  obedience  to 
a  necessity  similar  to  that  which  impels  mortals 
to  build  colleges  and  universities;  the  changes 
going  on  in  the  cosmos,  which  scientists  have  col- 
lectively named  evolution,  take  place  from  the 
necessity  of  adapting  environment  to  the  growing 
and  varying  intelligence  of  God's  children ;  to  the 
end  that  they  may  evolve  in  the  direction  which 
He  has  planned. 

We  Mormons  trust  the  stability  of  creation, 
from  the  feeling  that  all  this  cosmic al  panorama 


Personality  of  God  39 

is  but  the  unfinished  work  of  our  Father's  hands ; 
for,  knowing  with  what  loving  tenacity  we  earth- 
spirits  hold  to  the  working  out  of  our  feeble  in- 
ventions and  idealizations,  we  feel  instinctively 
how  dear  to  God  must  be  the  fruition  of  His  per- 
fect plans. 

And  as  to  the  reality  of  Heaven,  as  localized  in 
the  revelations  of  Scripture,  i£  it  were  not  essential 
to  the  existence  of  God  himself  (as  would  certainly 
seem  to  be  the  case  with  the  other  conception  of 
God),  then  we  might,  indeed,  fear  for  its  eternal 
perpetuity;  but  being  in  fact  that  state  which  is 
progressively  the  outcome  of  evolution,  or,  as 
Mormons  put  it,  eternal  progress ;  that  state  which 
is  the  sum-total  at  any  moment  of  what  God  has 
achieved, — it  is  a  necessary  part  of  himself,  the 
very  quintessence  of  His  work  as  Creator,  and 
without  which  He  himself,  as  well  as  we,  would  be 
homeless;  and  consequently  it  is  easier  to  have 
faith  that  Heaven  will  endure  than  not  to  have 
such  faith. 

By  way  of  bringing  out  another  important  rela- 
tion between  Creator  and  created,  consider  this 
illustration:  John  Jones  has  lost  his  way  in  a 
blizzard.  Feeling  a  sense  of  drowsiness  stealing 
over  him,  and  realizing  its  terrible  meaning,  he 
kneels  down  and  prays.  Will  his  life,  in  conse- 
quence, be  spared  from  the  fury  of  the  storm? 

Before  answering,  take  careful  account  of  all 
the  conditions.  First,  the  storm  is  only  doing  the 
duty  God  appointed  it  to  do ;  that  is  to  say,  it  is 


40        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

the  legitimate  outcome  of  law.  Law,  on  the  other 
hand,  provides  that  everything  in  the  blizzard's 
path  that  is  fitted  to  survive,  shall  survive — all 
the  rest  shall  perish. 

But  John  Jones  asks  in  effect  that  these  laws 
be  set  aside  for  his  benefit,  i.  e.,  either  that  the 
storm  be  so  mitigated  that  his  natural  strength 
may  save  him,  or  that  he  be  miraculously  raised 
into  the  rank  of  things  fitted  to  survive.  Sup- 
pose, in  addition  to  praying  for  himself,  he  en- 
treats mercy  and  protection  for  his  horse,  for  the 
cattle  he  is  seeking,  for  the  buds  in  his  orchard, 
will  the  indwelling  soul  of  the  universe  stop  to 
consider  and  act  upon  his  petition? 

The  example  fairly  sets  forth  the  inner  meaning 
of  prayer  and  also  its  conditions.  If  the  Chris- 
tianized god  of  Buddha  can  (and  will)  act  the 
r61e  of  Providence,  that  is,  intervene  and  set 
aside  the  operation  of  his  own  laws  at  the  re- 
quest of  man,  then  it  is  logical  to  pray — other- 
wise not. 

Is  it  rational  to  believe  that  an  infinitely  dif- 
fused spirit  or  essence  could  or  would  so  intervene? 
Buddhism  says  emphatically,  no.  God  never  acts 
as  Providence,  but  ever  as  karma,  the  establisher 
of  law  and  dispenser  of  absolute  justice  in  accord- 
ance therewith;  and  consistently  with  this  view, 
theosophists,  the  modern  disciples  of  Buddha, 
teach  that  prayer  is  enervating;  that  a  man  can 
have  his  way  against  the  universe  only  to  the  ex- 
tent that  he  himself  can  influence  his  environ- 


Personality  of  God  41 

ments ;  to  which  end  let  him  pray  to  nothing  ex- 
ternal,— let  him  rather  assume,  not  the  supplica- 
tive,  but  the  compelling  mental  attitude :  so  shall 
the  incarnation  of  Deity  within  him, — the  only 
God  with  whom  his  psychic  life  can  come  into 
contact, — perhaps  secure  for  him  his  desire. 

It  is  difficult,  on  a  priori  grounds,  to  come  to 
any  other  conclusion.  First,  there  is  the  bigness 
of  God  and  the  littleness  of  Jones.  Compared 
with  Infinitude  the  solar  system  itself  is  rela- 
tively smaller  than  the  smallest  microscopic  speck 
discernible  to  mankind.  Where  then  does  the 
man  Jones  come  in?  Secondly,  for  purposes  of 
answering  prayer  (as  well  for  all  purposes),  this 
Infinitude  must  be  considered  Unity,  not  Plural- 
ity; since  otherwise  ten  thousand  antagonistic 
prayers  might  be  granted  at  once,  to  the  undoing 
of  the  cosmos. 

But  answering  a  petition  involves  hearing  it, 
considering  it,  granting  it,  and  setting  in  motion 
the  forces  necessary  to  give  it  effect — in  other 
words,  it  involves  time.  Now,  Jones'  petition  is 
urgent:  five  minutes'  delay  may  mean  death  to 
him.  Will  the  ''All-soul"  of  the  universe  sus- 
pend attention  from  a  million  other  petitions — to 
say  nothing  of  temporarily  dropping  out  of  mind 
such  trifles  as  a  million  solar  systems  just  shaping 
out  of  chaos — to  listen  to  a  man  whose  cupidity, 
perhaps,  made  him  tempt  the  blizzard? 

But  even  though  Infinitude  could  do  such 
a  thing,  why  should  it  do  so?  By  the  very 


42        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

conception  of  advanced  Christianity,  whatever  of 
life  is  manifested  in  Jones,  his  horse,  his  cattle,  and 
his  orchard,  is  merely  the  fleeting  incarnation  of 
the  indwelling  Life  of  the  universe.  What  bond  of 
love  or  solicitude  can  be  imagined  between  such  a 
Creator  and  his  creatures — merely  limitations  of 
himself — that  He,  the  Infinite,  should  bend  down 
and  heed  the  selfish  cry  of  the  finite  ?  Why  should 
it  seem  better  to  Him  for  them  to  remain  limited 
and  finite  than  to  be  changed  back  to  the  un- 
limited and  infinite? 

But  belief  in  an  overruling  Providence  does  not, 
as  it  may  here  be  pointed  out,  result  from  a  priori 
but  from  a  posteriori  reasoning — that  is  to  say, 
from  experience.  "Ask  and  ye  shall  receive," 
said  the  Saviour,  and  made  the  promise  seem 
reasonable  by  this  appeal  to  common  sense:  "  If 
ye,  then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts 
to  them  that  ask  ye,  how  much  more  shall  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven  give  good  things  to 
them  that  ask  Him!" 

And  millions,  testing  the  promise,  have  found  it 
true.  Here,  then,  we  have  again  the  blessed  in- 
consistency of  men  holding  to  conclusions  derived 
from  premises  repudiated  and  in  spite  of  premises 
accepted.  Another  triumph  for  the  human 
heart! 

How  much  better  it  would  be,  however,  if 
man's  faith  in  Providence — that  is  to  say,  in  the 
effectiveness  of  prayer,  —  were  re-enforced  by 
the  head  as  well  as  by  the  heart.  Observe  that  the 


Personality  of  God  43 

God  to  whom  the  Saviour  pointed  in  the  words 
just  quoted  was  no  spiritual  abstraction,  but  a 
Father  whom  he  compares  with  our  earthly 
parents. 

But,  it  may  be  objected,  while  God's  love,  out 
of  which  grow  acts  of  intervention  in  behalf  of  his 
children,  is  satisfactorily  accounted  for  by  con- 
ceiving Him  as  the  personal  Father  of  our  spirits ; 
while  we  may  readily  believe  that  the  Being  who 
created  the  solar  system  for  man,  would  also,  were 
it  in  accordance  with  His  wisdom,  modify  or  set 
aside  the  general  application  of  His  will  in  the  in- 
terest of  individual  cases,  how  is  such  a  thing  pos- 
sible? Millions  of  petitions  go  to  the  Father  at 
the  same  time,  each  requiring  more  or  less  specific 
attention. 

The  objection  would  hold  were  God  alone  en- 
gaged in  listening  to  prayer  and  devising  special 
providences.  Let  us,  however,  take  a  common- 
sense  view  of  the  situation.  The  President  of  the 
United  States,  for  instance,  comes,  either  in  per- 
son or  by  agent,  into  executive  touch  with  every 
one  of  our  eighty  millions  of  people.  Is  it  possible 
to  conceive  God  as  less  resourceful? 

I  do  not  pretend  to  know  how  God  answers  all 
the  prayers  that  should  be  answered;  nor  has 
Mormonism  spoken  definitely  on  this  point.  But 
the  following  conclusion  may  safely  be  inferred 
from  well-established  premises  in  our  religion: 
Ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  our  prayers  are  probably 
passed  upon  by  our  guardian  angels ;  the  rest  by 


44        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

councils  of  greater  wisdom, — by  Jesus  Christ,  or 
God  himself,  if  need  be.1 

Nor  would  providences  thus  secured  be  any 
other  than  God's  providences ;  for  whoever,  under 
God's  appointment,  does  any  of  the  works  of  God, 
is  to  that  extent  acting  by  divine  authority,  which 
is  the  very  essence  of  Deity  and  Godhood. 

At  any  rate,  with  such  a  rational  view  of  the 
modus  operandi  of  Providence,  one  can  draw  near 
to  God  with  full  confidence  that  if  his  petition  in- 
volves that  which  will  be  for  his  own  eternal  good, 
it  will  be  granted.  The  thought,  however,  opens 
up  a  marvellous  new  world,  a  world  of  beings  be- 
hind the  veil,  and  their  relationship  to  us,  which 
will  be  discussed  in  a  later  chapter. 

1  "  The  explanation  of  how  God  can  hear  prayers  from 
millions  of  worshippers,"  writes  a  friend  to  whom  the  MS. 
of  this  work  was  submitted  for  criticism,  "has  often  come 
to  my  mind,  but  I  have  not  dared  to  put  it  forth  so  boldly. 
I  have  explained  that  He  has  means  whereby  He  can  hear 
us,  and  read  our  inmost  thoughts ;  but  that  those  means  are 
in  the  nature  of  angels  appointed  to  deal  with  the  prayers 
or  petitions  of  men,  I  have  not  felt  at  liberty  to  express. 
That  this  is  so,  is  probable;  but  will  it  be  wise  to  make  the 
assertion  as  strong  as  you  have  made  it?  May  it  not  seem 
a  shock  to  many  good  people's  faith  in  prayer?" — To  which 
I  can  only  say,  that  the  explanation  is  put  forth,  not  dog- 
matically, but  only  as  a  suggestion.  It  is  a  thought  that  has 
helped  to  make  my  own  prayers  more  real  and  vital,  and 
therefore  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  also  help  other  doubting 
Thomases. 


CHAPTER  VI 

COMMON  GROUND  BETWEEN  THE  TWO  CONCEPTIONS 

IT  is  time  now  to  see  what  Mormon  philosophy 
and  modern  Christian    philosophy  have    in 
common,  albeit  under  different  names. 

Perhaps  Mr.  Fiske,  in  his  Idea  of  God,  states 
most  clearly  a  certain  Christian  hypothesis  when 
he  says : 

The  world  of  phenomena  is  intelligible  only  when 
regarded  as  the  multiform  manifestation  of  an  Omni- 
present Energy  that  is  in  some  way — albeit  in  a  way 
quite  above  our  finite  comprehension — anthropomor- 
phic or  quasi-personal.  There  is  a  true  objective 
reasonableness  in  the  universe;  its  events  have  an 
orderly  progression,  and  so  far  as  those  events  are 
brought  sufficiently  within  our  ken  for  us  to  general- 
ize them  exhaustively,  their  progression  is  toward  a 
goal  recognizable  by  human  intelligence.  .  .  . 
Such  a  theory  of  things  is  Theism.  It  recognizes  an 
Omnipresent  Energy,  which  is  none  other  than  the 
living  God. 

With  all  of  which  Mormonism  is  in  perfect  ac- 
cord, save  the  last  clause.  Instead  of  being  itself 

45 


46        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

the  living  God,  this  omnipresent  energy  is  regarded 
as  merely  a  palpable  evidence  of  the  living  God. 

Suppose  no  mortal  being  had  ever  seen  the  sun, 
nor  any  other  heavenly  body  to  give  him  the  sug- 
gestion of  its  existence, — yet  its  effects  on  the 
earth  remained  precisely  as  they  are,  excepting 
perhaps  the  phenomena  of  shadow.  Under  such 
circumstances,  could  the  scientist  be  persuaded 
that  the  phenomena  of  light,  heat,  actinism,  mag- 
netism, and  electricity  were  not  immediate  ex- 
pressions of  an  omnipresent  energy,  but  were  in 
fact  effects  of  a  cause  localized  in  space?  If  he 
could,  it  ought  not  to  be  difficult  to  conceive  of 
God,  not  indeed  as  that  omnipresent  energy,  nor 
as  the  creator  of  that  energy,  but  as  the  efficient 
Cause  of  its  differentiation  into  the  forces  known 
to  man. 

To  quote  Mr.  Fiske  again : 

The  fathomless  abysses  of  space  can  no  longer  be 
talked  of  as  empty;  they  are  filled  with  a  wonderful 
substance,  unlike  any  of  the  forms  of  matter  which 
we  can  weigh  and  measure.  A  cosmic  jelly  almost 
infinitely  hard  and  elastic,  it  offers  at  the  same  time 
no  appreciable  resistance  to  the  movements  of  the 
heavenly  bodies.  It  is  so  sensitive  that  a  shock  in 
any  part  of  it  causes  a  tremor  which  is  felt  on  the 
surface  of  countless  worlds.  Radiating  in  every 
direction,  from  millions  of  centric  points,  run  shivers 
of  undulation  manifested  in  endless  metamorphoses  as 
heat,  or  light,  or  actinism,  as  magnetism  or  electric- 
ity. Crossing  one  another  in  every  imaginable  way, 


Common  Ground  47 

as  if  all  space  were  crowded  with  a  mesh-work  of 
nerve  threads,  these  motions  go  on  forever  in  a  har- 
mony that  nothing  disturbs.  .  .  . 

It  means  that  the  universe  as  a  whole  is  thrilling 
with  Life — not,  indeed,  life  in  the  usual  restricted 
sense,  but  life  in  a  general  sense.  The  distinction, 
once  deemed  absolute,  between  the  living  and  the 
not-living,  is  converted  into  a  relative  distinction; 
and  Life  as  manifested  in  the  organism  is  seen  to  be 
only  a  specialized  form  of  the  Universal  Life. 

All  this  Mormonism  believes  implicitly,  and 
goes  one  better.  As  early  as  1832,  five  years  be- 
fore Mohr  announced  the  law  of  the  conservation 
and  correlation  of  energy,  Joseph  Smith  identified 
all  the  cosmic  forces  with  which  man  is  familiar 
as  differentiations  of  one  Supreme  Force;  de- 
claring, moreover, — and  this  is  where  Mormonism 
is  still  in  advance  of  the  age — that  man's  ability 
to  perceive  truth,  the  power  variously  known  as 
inspiration,  genius,  intellectual  penetration — is 
only  a  higher  power  of  this  same  "  infinite  and 
eternal  Energy" ;  that  is  to  say,  just  as  a  certain 
rate  of  vibration  of  the  eternal  medium  gives  the 
sensation  of  heat,  and  another  rate  the  sensation 
of  light,  so  still  other  rates,  progressively  varied, 

I  account  for  all  the  psychic  states  which  result 
from  our  perceptions,  respectively,  of  the  many- 
angled  aspects  of  the  one  universal  harmony  of 
Truth. 
But  this  power  is  not  God:  it  is  merely  the 
medium  through  which  He  works,  plus  His  will 


48        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

impressed  upon  the  medium.  Without  the  me- 
dium God  would  be  helpless  to  execute,  while 
still  retaining  all  his  power  to  invent.  Without 
God,  the  medium  would  remain  changeless,  inert, 
throughout  all  eternity,  having  no  power  of 
initiation  within  itself. 

This  medium,  which  is  co-extensive  with  the 
universe,  would,  if  unimpressed  by  God,  perhaps 
present  no  attrition  (i.  £.,  no  phenomena)  to  the 
present  state  of  our  intelligence.  The  fact,  there- 
fore, that  this  medium  does  present  varied  forms 
of  attrition  to  the  human  mind  is  evidence  that 
God  by  virtue  of  His  will  is  in  all  things,  through 
all  things,  above  all  things,  below  all  things — the 
animating  principle  of  the  created  universe. 

To  put  the  distinction  in  scriptural  terms,  what 
Christians  recognize  as  God  the  Father,  Latter-day 
Saints  perceive  to  be  the  Holy  Ghost  (i.  e.,  the 
universal  medium  colored  by  the  will  of  God). 
Christ  himself  draws  this  distinction.  "Howbeit 
when  he  the  Spirit  of  Truth  is  come,  he  will  guide 
you  into  all  truth :  for  he  shall  not  speak  of  himself, 
but  whatsoever  he  shall  hear,  that  shall  he  speak." 
Showing  that  the  power  of  initiation  does  not  lie 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  with  God. 

The  failure  to  keep  this  distinction  in  mind 
is  explicable  perhaps  on  the  ground  that  only 
through  this  universal  medium  can  God's  will  be 
made  to  bear  upon  man — just  as  it  is  only  through 
the  medium  of  the  ether  that  the  sun  can  influ- 
ence the  earth;  nevertheless  such  failure  to  per- 


Common  Ground  49 

ceive  the  distinction  between  God  and  His  medium, 
does  not  differ  in  kind  from  that  which  should  fail 
to  see  the  architect  and  builder  behind  the  gray 
granite  temple  in  Salt  Lake  City — or  the  sun  itself 
as  the  source  of  sunlight.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  blind- 
ness of  the  same  kind  that  would  postulate  an 
''All-soul"  residing  in  the  materials  used,  as  the 
adequate  cause  of  the  phenomena  presented  by 
such  materials. 

And  yet  preposterous  as  seems  this  last  suppo- 
sition, let  us  see  how  nearly  true  it  is,  in  fact.  The 
gray  granite  quarry, — to  use  my  former  illustra- 
tion,— exists  only  by  virtue  of  the  "  infinite  and 
eternal  energy,"  which  Christians  identify  with 
God,  but  which  Latter-day  Saints  identify  with  the 
basic  fact  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  so  do  all  other  ma- 
terials used,  and  so  also  do  the  architect  and 
builders  themselves ;  indeed,  the  very  intelligence 
necessary  to  plan  the  temple,  and  all  the  me- 
chanical powers  used  in  its  construction,  are 
transmutations,  more  or  less  remote,  of  this  same 
universal  spirit. 

What  remains  then  for  its  finite  creators?  The 
initiative,  and,  in  a  relative  sense,  the  mastery 
of  the  materials  and  forces  involved  in  its 
construction. 

Here  we  come  face  to  face  with  the  essential 
characteristic  of  God :  the  power  of  initiative  and 
the  mastery  of  materials  and  forces.  Not,  indeed, 
mastery  and  control  in  the  clumsy,  mechanical 
fashion  in  which  man  seeks  to  imitate  creative  in- 


50        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

telligence;  but  in  the  absolute  triumph  of  mind 
over  not-mind.  In  these  two  facts,  then,  the  capa- 
city of  mind  to  invent  and  the  power  of  will  to 
execute,  lies  the  supremacy  of  God  over  the  uni- 
verse, even  though  He  Himself  be  limited  in  form 
to  the  Christ-type  of  being. 

In  no  other  way  are  creation  and  control  intel- 
ligible to  man;  for  to  place  initiative  and  the 
mastery  of  materials  and  forces  in  the  materials 
and  forces  themselves,  is  unthinkable.  It  is  a 
postulate  that  never  has  appealed,  and  never  can 
appeal,  to  the  experience  of  man,  and  is  therefore 
no  more  worthy  of  credence  than  are  the  vagaries 
of  Buddha's  dream;  among  which,  indeed,  it 
stands  foremost. 

For  the  present,  this  must  end  my  discussion  of 
God  as  the  source  of  all  light  and  life,  and  conse- 
quently the  source  of  religion.  I  am  fully  aware 
that  there  are  philosophic  questions  that  I  have 
not  touched  as  yet.  These  I  do  not  ignore ;  I  only 
postpone  them,  while  we  consider  the  nature  of  re- 
ligion itself  as  related  to  man's  temporal  and 
eternal  welfare. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  PLACE  OF  RELIGION  IN  THE  ECONOMY  OF  LIFE 

RELIGION,"  says  a  recent  writer,  "  religion- 
the  childish  mistaking  of  pictures  for  facts, 
—the  crass  materialization  of  allegory, — the  infi- 
nite talent  of  man  for  humbugging  himself, — and 
underneath  it  all  the  shadowy  outline  of  Truth." 

It  is  something  to  be  an  iconoclast — there  is 
work  for  him  among  the  tottering,  ivy-grown  in- 
stitutions that  are  outliving  the  ages  when  they 
really  served  mankind ;  it  is  more  to  be  a  builder. 
The  philistine  whom  I  have  just  quoted  assumes 
to  be  the  arbiter  of  religion,  as  well  as  the  oracle  of 
truth.  Verily,  we  have  progressed  since  Pilate's 
day.  Here  is  a  man  who  not  only  knows  what 
Truth  is,  but  is  able  to  recognize  her  outline  even 
when  shadowy.  Or  is  he,  after  all,  only  a  phrase- 
maker? 

It  seems  to  me  the  utterest  folly  to  attempt  a 
generalization  of  religion  in  a  single  stroke.  He 
who  can  do  it  knows  too  much  for  this  world,  and 
should  promptly  take  his  seat  among  the  angels ; 
or  else  he  knows  too  little,  and  should  have  the 
fostering  care  of  a  mental  hospital, 

51 


52        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Nevertheless,  some  broad  lines  of  differentiation 
need  to  be  drawn  in  religion  between  what  tends 
to  serve  and  what  tends  to  hinder  the  evolution 
of  the  human  race.  With  this  reservation,  then, 
that  our  findings  are  to  be  regarded  only  as  a 
groping  after  the  truth,  let  us  face  the  question: 
What  should  be  the  place  of  religion  in  the  econ- 
omy of  life  ? 

In  a  previous  chapter  I  took  the  ground  that  a 
religion  to  be  virile  enough  to  make  for  the  better- 
ment of  the  race,  must  be  founded  on  a  living 
faith — faith  in  a  Being  who  can  be  both  loved  and 
feared ;  also  that  the  first  requisite  of  such  a  faith 
is  that  the  Object  of  it  be  a  Reality,  not  a  Meta- 
physical Abstraction,  and  the  second  requisite 
that  He  be  a  Sympathetic  Reality. 

But  if  religion  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  gilded  some- 
thing superimposed  upon  life,  a  society  for  the 
culture,  and  especially  for  the  display,  of  a  re- 
ligiously veneered  estheticism,  then  there  is  little 
need  of  real  faith — the  less  indeed  the  better.  Its 
immaculate  pastors  can,  with  a  long  pair  of  scrip- 
tural tongs  dip  for  themes  into  the  turbid  stream 
of  life,  and  so  escape  soiling  their  white  hands  by 
contact  with  men  and  women  still  of  the  earth 
earthy. 

Its  votaries,  placidly  conscious  that  they  are 
already  saved,  can  sit  back  in  cushioned  pews, 
while  sin  is  idealized,  salvation  dramatized,  and  a 
sense  of  their  own  righteousness  is  distilled  upon 
them  like  dew. 


The  Place  of  Religion  53 

The  Church  will  thus  remain  eminently  holy  and 
respectable,  and  will  draw  to  its  fold  all  the  I-am- 
holier-than-thou  worshippers  who  can  afford  the 
luxury. 

True,  along  with  this  heaven-tending  selective 
culture,  there  are  likely  to  grow  a  few  incidental 
evils;  such  as  artificial  righteousness,  spiritual 
snobbery,  religious  shams  and  make-believes,  a 
snivelling,  psalm-singing  cant,  and  hypocrisy  un- 
adulterated ;  but  then  who  expects  in  this  vale  of 
tears  to  find  any  garden  of  holiness  without  a  few 
weeds  here  and  there? 

It  is  this  conception  of  religion,  so  widely  preva- 
lent among  Christian  sects  of  to-day, — the  fashion- 
able church,  retaining,  to  use  the  language  of 
Scripture,  "the  form  of  Godliness,  but  lacking  the 
power  thereof "  —that  the  school  of  iconoclasts 
are  inveighing  against.  Lay  on,  ye  philistines; 
a  ranker  sham,  a  more  bedizened  artificiality  does 
not  cumber  the  field  of  social  progress  to-day. 

Religion  may  next  be  conceived  as  a  divine 
something  which  is  to  be  integrated  or  interwoven 
with  life;  a  daily  and  hourly  burnisher  of  the 
conscience;  an  unostentatious  something  that 
goes  with  a  man  to  the  field,  the  workshop,  or  the 
office,  and  guides  through  love  or  restrains  through 
fear  all  the  thoughts  and  acts,  great  and  small, 
which  make  up  the  warp  and  woof  of  his  complex 
life. 

This  conception  involves  on  the  one  side  a 
fervid,  perhaps  unreasoning,  faith  in  the  ever- 


54        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

present  love  of  God,  or  at  least  of  the  Saviour; 
and  on  the  other,  the  total  depravity  or  essential 
vileness  of  human  life,  in  and  of  itself. 

Man  is  conceived  as  belonging  to  an  order  of 
being  somewhat  above  the  ants,  and  somewhat 
below  the  angels ;  with  power  to  rise,  through  the 
medium  of  religion,  into  the  heavenly  spheres,  but 
doomed  without  its  power,  to  sink  to  the  depths 
of  hell. 

This  conception  really  represents  a  stage  rather 
than  a  kind  of  religion.  It  represents  the  dog- 
matic, just  as  the  first  conception  represents  the 
philosophic,  stage  of  almost  every  sect  in  Christen- 
dom. It  is,  however,  distinctly  a  factor  in  the 
social  betterment  of  the  race;  as  witness  the 
present  efforts  of  the  Salvation  Army. 

The  difference  between  these  two  conceptions 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  first  is  not  only  in  itself  a 
holy  sham,  but  a  breeder  of  correlative  social 
shams — a  religion  which  at  best  "but  skims  and 
films  the  ulcerous  places"  in  society;  while  the 
second  is  an  earnest,  whole-souled  effort  to  probe, 
cleanse,  and  fill  with  health  the  putrescent  moral 
nature  of  man.  The  defect  of  both  alike  lies  in  the 
fact  that  they  are  mere  specialized  functions  of 
life ;  seeking  to  do  for  the  soul  by  spiritual  unction, 
what  the  physician  tries  to  do  for  the  body  with 
drop  and  pill. 

There  is  still  a  third  conception  of  the  right 
place  of  religion ;  not  as  something  superimposed 
upon  life,  nor  as  something  integrated  with  life, 


The  Place  of  Religion  55 

but  as  life  itself — life  from  God's  point  of  view, 
which  is  the  only  real,  true,  eternal  life. 

This  is  the  conception  of  Mormonism.  God  is 
conceived  as  the  Father — in  a  very  literal  sense— 
of  the  spirits  of  all  men.  He  must  therefore  be, 
like  Christ,  a  glorified,  perfected  man.  These 
spirits,  again  like  Christ  their  elder  brother,  lived 
a  spiritually  organized  premortal  life,  perhaps  for 
thousands,  perhaps  for  millions  of  years ;  and  the 
ego,  the  I  AM,  or  principle  of  self -consciousness, 
never  had  a  beginning. 

This  earth,  by  the  Mormon  conception,  is  not  a 
pestilent  island  in  the  ocean  of  eternity,  where 
souls  are  quarantined  for  sin,  as  the  dismalists 
among  Christians  would  have  us  believe;  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  a  world  prepared  by  our  Father  in 
heaven  for  the  transplanting  of  His  children;  a 
glorious  university — the  only  real  university — for 
the  development  of  His  sons  and  daughters. 

These  sons  and  daughters  do  not  belong  to  an 
order  of  beings  lower  than  that  of  God  Himself, 
and  are  therefore  not  " totally  depraved";  their 
so-called  deformities  of  sin  are,  for  the  most  part, 
merely  the  deformities  incident  to  growth  and  de- 
velopment; the  deformities  of  the  scaffolding  as 
compared  with  the  perfected  house. 

Sin  itself  as  ordinarily  understood  is  little  else 
than  relative  righteousness;  that  is  to  say,  what 
would  be  sin  for  a  higher  order  of  intelligence  is 
often  virtue  for  a  lower.  This  is  not  denying, 
however,  that  there  is  real  sin,  recognizable  alike 


56        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

in  all  grades  of  being;  nor  that  there  is  a  real 
Devil,  capable  of  tempting  men  to  evil. 

From  the  conception  that  earth-life  is  a  defi- 
nitely-planned, and  very  necessary  part  in  the 
eternal  education  of  man,  it  follows  that  heaven 
is  not  some  impossible  region,  remote  in  time  and 
space,  to  which  the  soul  flies  at  death ;  heaven  is 
the  HERE  and  Now,  and  a  million  years  hence  in 
the  life  of  the  soul,  will  still  be  the  here  and  now. 

That  is  to  say,  heaven  is  always  a  present,  not 
a  future,  state  of  the  soul ;  and  if  any  being  would 
know  the  extent, — the  height,  depth,  and  breadth, 
— of  bliss  which  the  universe  has  in  store  for  him 
at  any  time,  let  him  take  stock  of  how  much 
heavenly  beauty  he  sees,  and  feels,  and  LIVES,  in 
the  creations  immediately  around  him. 

His  future  Here  and  Now  will  no  doubt  be  in- 
effably enhanced  in  glory ;  but  only  on  the  condi- 
tion that  the  beauties  and  glories  between  the 
present  and  the  future  state  shall  have  been  pro- 
gressively seen,  and  felt,  and  lived;  only  on  the 
condition  that  he  progressively  accumulate  in 
himself,  what  Dr.  Jordan  calls  the  higher  heredity. 

Let  him  not  foolishly  imagine  that  he  can  fly 
from  the  one  state  into  the  other ;  for  the  farther 
he  would  go,  either  backward  or  forward  from  the 
here  and  now  of  any  stage  in  his  progress,  the  more 
deeply  he  would  sink  into  hell.1 

1  It  is  not  to  be  inferred,  because  heaven  and  hell  are  here 
emphasized  as  states  of  the  soul,  that  therefore  they  do  not 
exist  as  localities.  Indeed,  a  little  reflection  must  show  that 


The  Place  of  Religion  57 

For  what  is  the  essential  fact  of  hell  if  not  a 
state  of  discord  with  one's  surroundings?  Just 
as  heaven  represents  the  upward,  forward,  posi- 
tive point  of  view — the  life  that  seeks  law  to  the 
end  that  it  may  come  more  and  more  into  har- 
mony with  God,  so  hell  is  the  negative,  reactionary 
rebellious  point  of  view — the  life  which,  opposing 
itself  to  the  harmony  of  the  universe,  is  in  process 
of  being  undone.  It  was  with  profound  insight 
that  Goethe  made  Mephistopheles  declare:  "  I  am 
the  spirit  that  denies." 

It  follows  from  such  a  conception  that  there  are 
as  many  varying  degrees  of  hell  as  there  are  of 
heaven.  Our  present  state,  in  fact,  may  be  either 
heaven  or  hell  according  to  the  direction  in  which 
the  soul's  aspirations  are  pointed.  He  who  says, 
''Father,  thy  will  be  done,"  is  in  heaven, — as  ex- 
quisite a  heaven  as  his  soul  is  capable  of, — with 
angels  and  all  the  positive  forces  of  the  universe 
surrounding  him.  He  who  has  not  yet  learned  to 
take  this  mental  attitude,  is  groping  in  neutral 
shades ;  he  who  denies  it,  is  in  hell ;  for  he  opposes 
himself  to  law,  and  makes  all  things  eternal  his 
enemies.  And  as  by  obedience  to  law  he  built 
up  all  the  power  of  his  psychic  life;  so  now  his 

the  states  heaven  and  hell  and  the  places  heaven  and  hell, 
are  irrevocably  related  to  each  other  as  causes  and  effects. 
Even  in  this  life  we  see  the  tendency  of  heaven  or  hell  ideals  to 
segregate  the  men  and  women  holding  them  into  correspond- 
ing localities.  In  the  hereafter,  that  is  to  say,  in  any  future 
Here  and  Now,  this  tendency  will  no  doubt  be  much  acceler- 
ated, for  reasons  fully  set  forth  in  Chapter  XX.,  which  see. 


58        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

opposition  to  law,  must  result  in  stripping  him  of 
that  power.  This  latter  state  is  what  is  meant 
by  being  damned, — a  state  in  which  the  soul  has 
lost  the  power  to  repent  and  come  into  harmony 
with  God.1 

The  tortures  of  hell  can  only  be  approximately 
imagined  from  the  relatively  short  psychic  basis 
of  our  natural  life.  Nevertheless,  to  feel  a  grow- 
ing sense  of  confusion  and  discord  about  one ;  to 
realize  the  insidious  approach  of  impotence  as  re- 
vealed periodically  in  actions  which  more  and 
more  tend  to  terminate  in  empty,  useless  rage ;  to 
feel  one's  power  slipping  away,  and  realize  that 
the  time  will  inevitably  come  when  coupled  with 
an  awareness  that  shall  know  all  heights  and 
depths,  there  will  be  an  absolute  helplessness  to 
react  upon  the  universe;  in  short,  to  become  a 
keenly  self-conscious  piece  of  drift-wood  on  the 
waves  of  eternity — this  it  is  which  probably  con- 
stitutes the  supreme  agony  of  the  damned. 

1  Christ  speaks  of  a  sin  that  is  unpardonable — the  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost.  Paul,  in  speaking  of  those  who 
"were  once  enlightened  and  tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift  and 
were  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  tasted  the  good 
word  of  God  and  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,  and  then  fell 
away,  it  is  impossible  to  renew  them  again  into  repentance." 
Here  then  is  the  unpardonable  sin ;  for  manifestly  if  a  man 
cannot  repent  he  cannot  be  forgiven.  Men  in  respect  of 
obedience  to  God  are  like  beacon-fires :  as  long  as  a  spark  of 
the  divine  life  remains,  it  can  be  kindled  unto  repentance; 
but  suppose  it  goes  out — can  you  rekindle  ashes?  The  sons 
of  perdition  are  merely  the  ash-heaps  of  divine  fires  that 
have  gone  out. 


The  Place  of  Religion  59 

But  in  a  relative  sense,  the  pains  of  hell  evidently 
result  from  being  out  of  joint  with  one's  environ- 
ment. Such  a  state  would,  as  before  suggested, 
result  from  arbitrarily  moving  either  forward  or 
backward  from  any  given  point  of  soul-develop- 
ment. If,  for  instance,  some  devout  Christian, 
with  mechanical  ideas  of  salvation,  should  have 
his  prayer  granted  and  suddenly  be  transported 
into  the  presence  of  God  and  angels, — supposing 
that  his  earthly  dross  could  actually  withstand  a 
glory  intenser  than  the  atmosphere  of  the  sun,— 
what  would  he  find  in  this  advanced  psychic  uni- 
verse with  which  to  form  soul-correspondences? 
What  should  he  find  as  food  for  interest,  delight, 
or  comprehension  in  an  environment  exquisitely 
poised  to  beings  psychically  millions  of  ages  per- 
haps ahead  of  him.  Practically  he  would  be  in 
hell — the  hell  of  utter  barrenness  and  monotony. 

So,  on  the  other  hand,  were  he  suddenly  put 
back  into  environments  whose  elementary  crude- 
ness  once  formed  delightful  soul-attrition,  but 
whose  power  to  shape  and  modify,  and  therefore 
to  interest  him,  he  has  long  outgrown, — what 
would  be  the  state  of  his  feelings?  Fancy  a 
Mozart  or  Wagner  condemned  to  linger  in  a  plane 
where  Yankee  Doodle  and  the  Arkansaw  Traveller 
were  among  the  highest  types  of  musical  concord ! 
Again  he  would  be  in  hell — this  time  in  the  hell  of 
psychic  nausea  and  boredom;  than  which  let  no 
man  this  side  of  the  gulf  of  the  damned  fear  a 
worse  fate. 


60        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Mormonism,  it  will  thus  be  seen,  has  nothing  in 
it  to  encourage  the  delusion  of  those  Christians 
who  believe  themselves  already  saved,  and  who, 
in  consequence,  dally  with  the  present  life  in  list- 
less fashion  while  waiting  for  the  advent  of  their 
paradise;  Mormonism  is  pre-eminently  the  re- 
ligion of  present  endeavor. 

Trust  no  future,  howe'er  pleasant, 
Let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead; 
Act — act  in  the  living  present, 
Heart  within  and  God  o'erhead. 

He  obeys  God  best  who  learns  most  of  the 
present  world,  but  in  such  order  and  relation  that 
the  link  between  him  and  his  Maker  becomes  daily 
brighter  and  stronger.  He  is  in  the  highest  heaven 
who  sees  most  beauty,  feels  most  harmony,  in  the 
creations  immediately  around  him. 

Compare,  then,  with  a  religion  so  outlined,  a 
religion  vitally  interrelated  with  all  real  things; 
indeed,  an  interpreter  of  all  things  in  their  rela- 
tion to  the  soul, — compare  with  this  conception  of 
religion  the  definition  with  which  this  chapter 
opened:  "Religion  —  the  childish  mistaking  of 
pictures  for  facts, — the  crass  materialization  of 
allegory, — the  infinite  talent  of  man  for  hum- 
bugging himself,  —  and  underneath  it  all,  the 
shadowy  outline  of  Truth." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MORMONISM  A  TRANSCENDENT  SYSTEM  OF   EVOLU- 
TION 

IT  must  by  this  time  have  dawned  upon  the 
reader  that  Mormonism  is  a  transcendent 
system  of  evolution — a  system  so  vast  and  far- 
reaching,  that  by  comparison  the  researches  of 
Darwin  and  his  collaborators,  important  though 
they  have  been,  are  but  as  links  in  an  endless 
chain. 

And  yet  evolution  is  hardly  the  word  to  ex- 
press our  idea  of  the  unfolding  of  the  cosmos. 
From  its  derivation  (ex,  out  of,  and  volvere,  to  roll), 
the  word  gives  no  hint  of  final  causes.  Its  chief 
aim  is  to  trace  modifications  and  record  results; 
accordingly,  as  a  term  in  science,  evolution  stands 
merely  for  an  unrolling,  a  coming  out,  a  developing 
from  some  centre,  of  the  world  and  all  its  forms  of 
life. 

This  non-committal  attitude  is  certainly  a  be- 
coming one  to  the  cautious  historian  of  nature; 
but  the  mind  is  hardly  satisfied  with  an  account 
of  how  things  have  unfolded :  it  instinctively  seeks 
for  a  cause  of  the  unfolding.  As  a  consequence 

61 


62        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

we  have,  more  or  less  intermingled  with  the  record 
of  evolutionary  science,  an  evolutionary  phi- 
losophy, which  proceeds  by  speculative  theories. 

Mormonism  accepts  all  the  facts  of  evolution, 
but  has  its  own  way  of  accounting  for  those  facts. 
It  cannot  agree,  for  instance,  that  things  happen 
fortuitously ;  nor  are  the  present  theories  of  evolu- 
tion adequate,  in  its  estimation,  to  account  for 
the  status  and  trend  of  the  universe.  Mormon- 
ism believes,  not  only  that  the  cosmos  was  set 
going  by  God,  through  the  agency  of  intelligent 
beings,  but  also  that  every  modification  traceable 
to  it  since,  is  likewise  the  result  of  intelligent  su- 
pervision. If,  therefore,  to  the  idea  of  evolution 
there  be  added  the  idea  of  constant  oversight,— 
that  things  happen  not  by  drifting,  but  by  direc- 
tion,— then  we  have  fairly  the  Mormon  idea  of 
evolution ;  which,  however,  we  are  accustomed  to 
speak  of  under  another  name — eternal  progress. 
This  idea  I  shall  now  proceed  briefly  to  outline. 

The  theme  naturally  divides  itself  into  two 
aspects:  the  evolution  of  the  world  as  a  habitat 
for  man,  or  as  a  new  set  of  environments  designed 
for  his  development;  and  the  evolution  of  man 
himself  in  his  relation  to  this  habitat  or  new  sphere 
of  life. 

Conceive,  then,  our  Father  in  heaven,  the  per- 
fected Man, — not,  as  Carlyle  says,  "an  absentee 
God  idle  on  the  outside  of  the  universe,  seeing  it 
go,"  but  vitally  related  as  Creator  and  Controller 
to  all  His  creations. ;  the  very  Source  of  all  light  and 


A  System  of  Evolution  63 

life;  not  isolated  in  His  aspect  of  perfected  Man, 
but  surrounded  by  millions  of  just  men  made  per- 
fect,— supreme  and  alone  only  in  the  sense  of  God- 
hood,  or  the  power  that  makes  Him  God :  in  the 
same  sense  that  presidency  makes  the  President 
of  the  United  States  supreme  and  alone.  Con- 
ceive also  as  many  million  ages  of  progressive  de- 
velopment between  Him  now  and  the  state  when, 
like  Christ,  He  was  man,  as  are  necessary  to  ac- 
count for  His  intelligence  and  omnipotence  as  God. 

Next  conceive  as  vacant  the  space  now  occu- 
pied by  the  solar  system:  a  condition  of  things 
which  might  be  represented  by  matter  in  its 
atomic  state,  or  sleeping,  as  it  were,  in  the  bosom 
of  spirit ; J  both  matter  and  spirit  quiescent,  inert, 
and  literally  "without  form  and  void," — that  is 
to  say,  presenting  no  phenomena  to  beings  or- 
ganized as  we  are  now:  a  state  which  science 
itself  postulates  previous  to  the  creation  of  our 
immediate  cosmos. 

I  choose  this  small  fraction  of  the  universe,  not 
only  because  it  presents  a  fair  sample  of  creation, 
but  also  because  it  furnishes  water  deep  enough 
for  any  sane  mortal  to  swim  his  ideas  in;  to  say 
nothing  of  the  further  supreme  fact  that  it  con- 
cerns me  immediately,  and  the  Pleiades  do  not. 
If  I  can  connect  myself  and  my  habitat,  the  earth, 
with  their  adequate  Cause,  my  philosophy  is 
satisfied;  I  care  not  a  rap  how  this  Cause  is  in 

1  If,  indeed,  matter  and  spirit  shall  not  turn  out  to  be  ulti- 
mately the  same  entity.  Who  shall  tell? 


64        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

turn  related  to  a  remoter ;  I  am  content  to  rest  in 
the  conviction  that  the  continued  existence  of  our 
smaller  cosmos,  is  evidence  that  its  connection 
with  the  universe  is  real  and  vital. 

Conceive  next,  as  a  motive  for  creation,  mil- 
lions upon  millions  of  nascent  intelligences,  the 
spiritual  offspring  of  perfected  beings, — human 
souls,  if  you  please,  in  their  first  or  pre-existent 
estate ;  needing  just  such  an  environment  as  ours 

-"a  second  estate,"  in  the  language  of  Scripture 
—to  further  their  development  in  the  powers  and 
attributes  of  Deity. 

If  this  is  not  the  explanation  of  psychic  life,  the 
adequate  motive  of  the  creation,  will  some  one 
rise  up  and  give  us  a  more  rational,  a  nobler,  a 
more  exalted  conception? 

To  proceed  then.  What  would  be  the  first  step 
in  creation?  Manifestly  the  setting  into  opera- 
tion here  of  a  law  in  force  elsewhere  in  the  uni- 
verse— wherever,  in  fact,  created  forms  of  matter 
existed — the  law  of  gravitation.  For  though 
Newton  called  this  law  universal,  it  is  to  be  thought 
so  only  in  the  fact  that  it  is  a  condition  pre- 
requisite to  the  existence  of  any  world;  but  as 
to  whether  the  law  shall  operate  within  any  given 
area  (i.  e.,  whether  a  system  of  worlds  shall  come 
into  being),  or  cease  to  operate  in  any  given  area 
(i.  e.,  whether  a  system  of  worlds  shall  pass  out  of 
being),  depends  upon  the  will  of  God. 

Science  has  traced  better  than  theology  can, 
the  history  of  creation  since  the  beginning  of  the 


A  System  of  Evolution  65 

operation  of  this  law ;  and  with  the  facts  of  science 
Mormonism  has  no  controversy.  Ask  me  how 
God  created  the  world,  and  I  shall  answer :  In  the 
way  it  could  be  created  and  not  in  the  way  it 
could  n't.1  Ask  me  how  long  it  took  Him,  and  I 
shall  say:  As  long  as  it  needed  to  take.  That  is 
the  only  commentary  of  Mormonism  on  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis. 

We  have  still  thousands  among  us  who  cling  to 
the  seven-days'  notion ;  thousands  of  others  who 
are  willing  to  make  a  day  with  the  Lord  a  thousand 
years  (which  latter  concession  seems,  to  the  more 
intelligent  among  us,  as  if  after  discovering  that 
you  cannot  dam  the  Mississippi  with  a  spoon,  you 
conclude  to  use  a  shovel) ;  but  these  narrow  no- 
tions represent,  not  the  ideals  of  Mormonism,  but 
the  remnants  of  the  mechanical  theology  of  sect- 
arianism still  clinging  to  its  converts. 

Latter-day  Saints  recognize  a  great  symbolic 

1  On  the  face  of  things,  this  does  not  seem  to  say  much; 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  recognizes  that  there  is  a  "could  n't " 
even  for  Omnipotence :  that  things  in  themselves  contradictory 
are  not  possible  even  to  the  Creator;  e.  g.t  the  mediaeval 
notion,  still  held  by  some  Christian  sects,  that  God  made  the 
world  out  of  nothing.  It  also  hints  that  such  a  passage  as 
that  "God  is  able  out  of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children 
unto  Abraham,"  is  to  be  taken  as  an  hyperbole;  or  if  taken 
literally,  that  the  miracle  would  imply  the  reducing  of  the 
stones  to  the  atomic  state,  and  then  their  incorporation  first 
into  the  plant-world  as  food  for  man,  and  next  into  the  living 
human  tissue, — quite  according  to  natural  law.  God  can, 
indeed,  do  all  things  not  contradictory  in  themselves ;  but  he 
must  do  them  in  the  way  they  can  be  done,  and  not  in  the 
way  they  can't. 


66        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

truth  in  the  Biblical  story  of  creation,  but  are  not 
dogmatic  either  as  to  the  way  in  which  God 
worked  or  as  to  the  time  consumed.  Moreover, 
to  the  extent  that  science  has  read,  or  shall  read, 
definite  concepts  into  this  wonderful  chapter,  it 
may  rely  upon  the  reverent,  grateful  attention  of 
Mormonism. 

So  also  of  other  controverted  teachings  respect- 
ing the  order  and  time  of  creation.  For  instance, 
thousands  of  books  have  been  written  by  Chris- 
tians combatting  the  notion  that  species  are  de- 
rived from  one  another  by  a  process  of  gradual 
adaptation.  But  why  should  this  idea  be  so 
strenuously  opposed?  Because  it  involves  a  few 
million  years,  instead  of  seven  days,  could  not  God 
still  be  Creator?  Surely  it  is  a  sensible,  an  eco- 
nomical, a  beautiful  way,  of  introducing  variety 
in  the  flora  and  fauna  of  the  earth;  and  if  it  is 
God's  way — and  it  surely  is,  if  it  is  the  way  at  all 
— let  us  accept  it  as  a  truth  with  all  reverence  and 
humility. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  follow  this  theme 
further,  but  the  scope  of  this  work  compels  me  to 
narrow  my  discussion  to  what  immediately  con- 
cerns man.  Elsewhere  I  have  maintained  that 
the  solar  system,  and  especially  this  world,  was 
created  in  obedience  to  a  necessity  similar  to  that 
which  impels  us  mortals  to  build  colleges  and  uni- 
versities ;  whence  the  inference  is  self-evident  that 
the  earth  and  all  it  contains  was  created  as  a 
means  of  educating  mankind.  This  was  substan- 


A  System  of  Evolution  67 

tially  one  of  the  doctrines  that  fell  when  physical 
science  overthrew  the  Augustinian  theology.  It 
should  not  have  fallen,  however ;  for  it  is  the  only 
concept  that  gives  definite  meaning — that  is  to 
say,  unity  and  perspective  from  man's  point  of 
view  to  the  work  of  creation. 

But  physical  science,  intoxicated  with  its  suc- 
cess in  the  r61e  of  iconoclast,  did  not  stop  to 
balance  conclusions  with  other  departments  of 
truth.  It  rushed  headlong  to  the  opposite  ex- 
treme, declaring  that  man  is  a  mere  incident  in 
the  scheme  of  things ;  that  his  pre-eminence  over 
other  animals  was  primarily  accidental — due  to  a 
lucky  differentiation,  whereby  evolution  in  him 
took  the  form  of  brain-modification;  that  the 
same  accident  might  have  happened  to  the  lion, 
the  eagle,  or  even  the  star-fish.1 

There  are,  of  course,  many  general  aspects  of 
nature  which  lend  themselves  to  this  view  of  crea- 
tion. It  is  difficult,  for  instance,  to  see  what  the 
thousand-fold  variety  of  the  butterfly,  or  the 
myriad-form  aspect  of  other  insects,  has  to  do 
with  man's  evolution;  other,  perhaps,  than  to 
furnish  him  problems  for  the  development  of  his 

1  In  accordance  with  which  latter  idea,  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells 
has,  in  his  romance  entitled  The  War  of  the  Worlds,  pictured 
the  inhabitants  of  Mars  as  immense,  spider-like  creatures, 
with  tub-shaped  bodies,  from  which  radiate  in  a  dozen 
directions,  scaly  tentacles  capable  of  surprising  manipulation. 
Brain-evolution  happened  to  go  in  that  direction  on  the  red 
planet;  producing  rational  beings  of  the  octopus  order,  but 
vastly  superior  to  human  beings,  nevertheless. 


68        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

mental  life.  But,  after  all,  is  not  this  develop- 
ment the  very  summum  bonum  of  existence — that 
highest  good  for  which  all  utilitarian  goods  exist 
merely  as  stepping-stones?  And  toward  this 
summum  bonum,  which  of  the  so-called  negative 
tendencies  in  life, — weeds  and  tares  in  the  field  of 
existence — does  not  contribute  its  quota  of 
strength  and  character,  if  properly  met  and  over- 
come by  man?  But  if  not  overcome?  Well,  it  is 
necessary  to  eternal  progress  that  offenses  come, 
but  woe  unto  him  who  does  not  rise  above  them. 
It  is  only  because  man  takes  a  narrow  view  of 
life,  that  created  things  have  no  sense  of  unity  to 
him.  If  he  can  understand  that  the  profusion 
and  variety  of  natural  beings  are  necessary  to  call 
out  his  highest,  deepest,  psychic  powers,  this  fact 
alone  should  make  him  content  to  believe  God's 
word,  that  all  things  were  created  for  man ;  if  he 
can  look  more  deeply,  and  see  that  this  life  does 
not  end  all ;  that  it  is  necessary  for  God  to  furnish 
mental  activity  during  all  future  time  for  His 
children;  that  the  multiplication  of  animated 
forms  on  the  earth-plane,  may  in  fact  be  the  ex- 
pression of  creative  work  on  the  spiritual  plane, — 
work  which  beings  like  ourselves  are  even  now 
engaged  in,  and  which  awaits  us  when  our  turn 
shall  come  to  pass  on; — if  he  can  take  so  wide  a 
view  of  human  life  and  destiny  as  this,  he  will 
have  no  need  to  turn  pessimist  and  take  man's 
primacy  in  nature  as  accidental. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  DUAL  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  NATURAL  WORLD 

THOUGH  perhaps  inevitable,  from  the  depths 
of  superstition  into  which  religion  had  sunk, 
it  was  nevertheless  a  profound  pity  that  the  great 
work  of  Darwin  and  his  earliest  followers  should 
have  proceeded  by  ignoring  the  spiritual  basis  of 
life.  We  should  have  had  a  vastly  different  ar- 
rangement of  the  body  of  scientific  facts  collected 
by  them  had  these  men  paid  attention  to  those 
intuitions  which  come  from  the  infinite  to  all  men 
who  seek  truth  in  a  reverent  spirit. 

Consider  in  connection  with  this  thought  two 
important  facts  in  the  philosophy  of  Mormonism. 
The  first  relates  to  the  purpose  of  existence,  as 
set  forth  by  our  Saviour,  namely,  "  Be  ye  perfect 
as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect."  If  this 
means  anything,  it  means  an  eternity  of  scientific 
investigation  on  the  part  of  man;  not  only  into 
the  channels,  but  into  the  very  well-springs  of 
creation.  How  else  should  such  perfection  come? 

The  second  relates  to  the  obvious  fact  that  life 
is  the  result  of  a  dual  creation — a  creation  of 
spirit  and  a  creation  of  body.  The  second  chapter 

69 


70        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

of  Genesis  asserts  that  God  "made  every  plant  of 
the  field  before  it  was  in  the  earth,  and  every  herb 
before  it  grew."  As  first  shaped  by  the  hand  of 
the  Creator,  the  plant  was  a  spiritual  creation — 
perfectly  tangible  to  him,  but  no  doubt  quite  im- 
palpable to  finite  minds.  Man  could  know  it  only 
as  it  grew,  i.  e.,  only  as  it  took  a  body  of  earth- 
materials. 

This  same  mystery  has  hung  over  life  ever  since 
the  creation,  leading  the  poet  to  exclaim: 

Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 

I  pluck  you  from  the  crannies. 

I  hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand, 

Little  flower;  but  if  I  could  understand 

What  you  are,  root  and  all,  all  in  all, 

I  should  know  what  God  is  and  man  is. 

Now  while  we  cannot  explain  this  mystery, 
something  may  perhaps  be  gained  if  we  put  it  into 
the  terms  of  science.  What,  then,  probably  took 
place  in  that  first  or  spiritual  creation  of  the 
plant  ? 

Given  creative  intelligence,  i.  e.,  the  power  to 
invent  mentally  toward  a  definite  end ;  given  next 
the  "infinite  and  eternal  energy"  referred  to  by 
Spencer,  or  the  universe  of  spirit  in  the  terms  of 
Scripture,  as  material  to  work  upon ;  given  lastly 
creative  power,  i.  e.,  power  to  impress  will — prob- 
ably in  the  form  of  motion — upon  this  universal 
medium,  then  this  may  be  what  took  place  in  that 
first  spiritual  creation, — adopting  the  terms  of 


Dual  Evolution  71 

molecular  physics:  A  fraction  of  the  universal 
spiritual  medium  was  impressed  by  the  Creator 
with  a  distinct  vibration,  both  (let  us  say)  as  to 
quality,  rotary  or  otherwise,  and  also  as  to  rate, 
say,  a  fixed  number  of  millions  or  billions  per 
second.  This — or  some  other  manipulation  of 
the  life  medium, — for  it  is  beyond  man  to  do 
aught  else  than  speculate, — constituted  the  be- 
ginning of  life.  Into  the  whorl  of  spirit  so  set 
going,  earth-matter  shaped  itself  into  definite 
form  and  outline  by  process  of  natural  growth. 
This  was  the  second  creation.  Scripture  bears  us 
out  abundantly  that  the  natural  is  ever  shaped 
upon  the  spiritual. 

But  a  greater  marvel  was  involved  after  the 
union  of  the  two :  for  at  stated  nodes  in  this  evo- 
lution of  spirit,  the  first  creation  reproduces  itself. 
Every  virile  seed,  whether  of  plant  or  of  animal,  is 
to  be  regarded  as  containing  a  repetition  of  that 
first  or  divinely-ordained  spiritual  vibration,  coiled 
like  a  spring  within  its  earthly  matrix,  and  locked 
ready  to  be  set  free  when  the  proper  conditions 
surround  it. 

Now,  whether  God  created  but  one  such  spirit- 
ual germ,  and  produced  all  the  other  forms  by 
modifications  afterward,  or  whether  He  created — 
creates,  let  us  rather  say — many  such  original  or- 
ganisms, who  shall  tell?  In  any  event,  why 
should  there  be  bitterness  about  it?  Whichever 
plan  we  assume,  one  thing  is  fixed :  it  is  God's  way 
of  transmuting  the  formless  and  limitless  into  the 


72         The  Science  of  Mormonism 

formed  and  limited;  and  we  shall  not  lack  plau- 
sible speculations  as  to  how  he  succeeds  in  doing  it. 

So  also  with  respect  to  adaptations,  which  un- 
deniably take  place  from  age  to  age  in  almost 
every  type  of  life:  they  are  to  be  regarded  as 
modifications  —  retardations,  accelerations,  or 
changes  in  quality — of  the  original  spiritual  vibra- 
tions constituting  God's  idea.  But  whether 
creative  intelligence  makes  this  change  by  acting 
on  the  seed  of  some  individual  organism,  thus  sud- 
denly setting  free  a  distinct  variety,  or  by  means 
of  meteorological  forces  applied  in  mass,  thus 
effecting  changes  scarcely  perceptible  save  by 
centuries, — is  matter  for  the  investigation,  but 
not  for  the  religio-scientific  rancor,  of  God's  chil- 
dren. Here  it  need  only  be  insisted  that  which- 
ever way  it  shall  be  settled,  it  is  God's  way — not 
the  way  of  chance. 

Let  us  now  bring  these  two  facts  together, 
namely  (i)  the  necessity  of  an  eternity  of  oppor- 
tunity for  investigation,  if  man  is  to  become  per- 
fect as  God  is  perfect,  and  (2)  the  obvious  double 
aspect,  mortal  and  spiritual,  of  all  forms  of  life. 

If  in  this,  our  second  or  earthly  estate,  we  have 
untrammelled  opportunity,  so  long  as  life  shall 
last,  for  studying  the  bodies  of  things,  is  it  un- 
reasonable to  hope  that  in  some  future  estate,  we 
shall  have  equally  untrammelled  access  to  study 
the  soul  of  things?  Indeed,  is  not  such  a  change 
in  the  divine  curriculum  one  of  the  necessities  in 
the  evolution  of  a  child  of  God?  How  could  he 


Dual  Evolution  73 

attain  to  the  perfection  of  his  Father  without  such 
an  opportunity? 

If  the  reader  takes  this  step  with  me,  then  he 
is  to  conclude  that  even  now,  behind  the  veil 
which  separates  the  natural  and  the  spiritual 
world — a  land  very  near  to  us,  no  doubt — are 
perhaps  millions  of  "Workers"  to  whom  God 
trusts  problems  in  the  economy  of  His  creations. 
Such  assistance  is  necessary  to  Him  in  working 
out  His  purposes  respecting  the  earth ; z  to  them 
it  is  essential  as  being  the  only  means  of  attaining 
perfection. 

Let  us  go  one  step  further.  Do  we  not  see  the 
inventive,  that  is  to  say,  the  creative  faculty  phe- 
nomenally active  in  man  during  this  life?  Shap- 
ing dead  forms,  forsooth — mechanical  contrivances 
without  the  spiritual  counterpart.  These  inven- 
tions we  call  art,  and  so  they  are — the  highest  art 
which  the  limitations  of  earth  life  permit  us  to  at- 
tempt. But  in  that  life  to  come,  when  we  shall 

1  That  God  needs  the  help  of  intelligences  lower  than  Him- 
self, may  seem  startling  to  those  who  have  been  accustomed 
to  characterize  mankind  as  vile  worms  of  the  dust,  which 
Omnipotence  is  shaping  for  heaven  or  hell,  according  to  His 
divine  pleasure.  In  a  transcendent  way,  it  is  true  enough 
that  he  does  not  need  man's  aid;  but  if  He  wants  a  world 
filled  with  men — His  children ;  and  if  He  desires  those  children 
to  evolve  in  themselves  the  intelligence  of  their  Father,  He 
must  have  their  aid ;  i.  e. ,  they  must  do  what  He  would  have 
them  do,  otherwise  they  spoil  on  His  hands,  to  use  a  homely 
phrase,  in  spite  of  everything  He  can  do  to  save  them.  It 
is  simply  the  necessity, — to  which  God  as  well  as  man  must 
conform, — of  doing  a  thing  in  the  way  it  can  be  done,  not  in 
the  way  it  can't. 


74         The  Science  of  Mormonism 

investigate  the  very  springs  of  creation,  shall  our 
inventions  be  limited  to  lifeless  or  mere  mechan- 
ical forms?  Is  it  not  more  reasonable  to  believe 
that  as  we  approach  the  perfection  of  our  Father, 
so  we  shall  begin  to  do  the  things  which  He  does  ? 

But  pause  for  a  moment,  to  realize  what  this 
thought  implies  respecting  those  millions  of 
advance  workers  of  our  race  just  referred  to. 
Wherever  God  is  at  work  shaping  or  modifying, 
or  otherwise  controlling,  the  operations  of  the 
natural  world,  there,  no  doubt,  assisting  Him  in 
minor  posts  of  duty,  will  be  intelligent  beings  of 
our  human  type.  And  the  results  of  their  ac- 
tivity will  doubtless  appear  in  phenomena  of  the 
natural  world.  In  my  garden,  for  instance,  are 
now  blooming  easily  fifty  varieties  of  the  pansy, 
and  on  the  face  of  any  one  of  them  are  more 
subtly  charming  adjustments  of  color  than  the 
most  exquisite  artist  of  earth  has  been  able  to 
make  in  silk  and  satin.  And  all  this,  let  it  be 
remembered,  is  self -woven!  What  fair  weaver 
among  the  immortals,  I  ask  myself,  is  adjusting 
this  marvellous  loom  of  life? 

Here,  Dr.  Loeb,  will  come  your  opportunity. 
To  play  with  life  as  with  a  toy,  has  by  your  own 
admission,  been  the  passion  of  all  your  years  of 
investigation.  You  have  even  succeeded  in  fer- 
tilizing the  egg  of  the  sea-urchin  without  contact 
of  the  male  germ.  Shall  you  ever  be  able  to  poise, 
in  delicate  proportion,  the  chemical  ingredients 
that  make  up  the  egg  or  the  seed  of  a  given  form 


Dual  Evolution  75 

of  life?  No  doubt  about  it — from  a  mechanical 
point  of  view.  But  will  it  hatch  or  sprout  ?  Can 
you  coil  into  it,  and  lock  there,  that  other  crea- 
tion, the  spiritual?  We  shall  wait  and  see. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  whole  aspect  of  our 
present  plane  of  existence  seems  to  deny  such  a 
possibility;  seems  to  point  out  that  God's  second- 
ary creation,  the  bodies  of  things,  is  peculiarly  the 
subject-matter  appointed  for  our  study  during 
this  journeyman's  course  in  his  wonderful  univer- 
sity. And  surely  there  is  material  enough  in  this 
world  of  forms,  even  were  our  days  prolonged  to 
the  combined  life  of  all  the  antedeluvian  patri- 
archs. From  which  consideration  we  may  well 
conclude  that  our  study  of  the  shells  of  life  will 
reach  far  over  into  the  hereafter.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  there  must  come  a  time,  it  seems  to 
me,  when  life  itself  shall  yield  to  man's  power  of 
analysis ;  and  if  to  his  power  of  analysis,  then  also 
to  his  power  of  synthesis. 

As  will  thus  be  seen,  becoming  like  God  is,  in 
the  belief  of  Latter-day  Saints,  no  mere  fatuous 
dream  of  something  to  be  accomplished  by  a  pas- 
sive compliance  with  ceremony  or  ritual;  it  im- 
plies an  eternity  of  righteousness ;  that  is,  of  right 
endeavor  constantly  heaven-directed.  And  we 
are  now  in  the  very  midst  of  it.  Let  him  who 
would  understand  the  method  of  it,  look  about 
him,  and  take  the  most  obvious,  the  most  com- 
mon-sense view  of  life.  Let  him  realize  that  it  is 
by  means  of  our  environment  that  we  are  shaped : 


76        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

made  God-like  to  the  extent  that  we  conquer  and 
rise  superior  to  it,  but  weakened  and  made  craven 
to  the  extent  that  it  overcomes  us.  Then  let  him 
reflect  that  as  it  is  now,  so  it  has  been  in  the  ages 
gone,  and  so  will  it  be  in  the  eons  to  come :  God 
shapes  our  environment  and  points  the  way;  we 
retrograde  or  advance  according  as  we  drift  with 
the  current  or  swim  toward  the  goal. 

And  if  environment  is  the  means  of  educating 
us,  then  it  must  change  according  to  our  needs — 
quite  as  modern  science  has  shown  that  it  does 
change.  Nor  should  we  expect  the  changes  to  be 
cataclysmal,  that  is,  of  so  violent  a  nature  as  to 
disrupt  the  vital  and  intellectual  correspondences 
of  the  race.  We  should  rather  expect  them  to  be 
evolutionary,  changing  as  the  intelligences  de- 
pendent upon  them  shall  advance;  which  is  pre- 
cisely again  what  science  declares  has  taken  place 
since  the  creation  of  the  solar  system. 

Whence  we  conclude  also :  (i)  that  the  environ- 
ments of  pre-existence  were  such  as  to  grade 
naturally  into  earth-life — though  the  fact  of  our 
having  forgotten  that  previous  life,  were  it  ex- 
plicable in  no  other  way,  might  imply  a  complete 
break  in  our  correspondences;  and  (2)  that  the 
environments  of  the  spirit-world,  into  which  we 
are  ushered  by  death,  will  be  a  logical,  unbroken 
consequence  of  our  present  environments;  of 
which  two  states  I  shall  have  more  to  say  in  later 
chapters. 

And  so  also  of  those  tremendous  changes  pre- 


Dual  Evolution  77 

figured  in  Scripture  "before  the  end  shall  come." 
Viewed,  as  the  prophets  probably  viewed  them, 
without  the  perspective  of  intermediate  events, 
they  no  doubt  looked  cataclysmal;  but  there 
seems  no  good  reason  to  believe  that  they  will  be 
more  so  than  events  already  recorded  in  the  geo- 
logical record. 

This  must  close  my  cursory  glance  at  our  inter- 
pretation of  evolution  as  respects  the  earthly 
habitat  of  man,  the  child  of  God.  If  I  have  shown 
that  so  far  from  being  at  variance  with  evolution, 
or  so  far  from  being  even  in  the  attitude  of  waiting 
to  take  its  cue  from  the  investigations  of  science, 
Mormonism  is  in  fact  able  to  organize  the  truths 
of  evolution  into  a  larger  whole,  and  supply  intel- 
ligent motive,  moreover,  for  the  origin,  trend,  and 
final  destiny  of  the  cosmos, — then  my  purpose  has 
been  effected,  and  I  am  ready  to  take  up  the 
seeond  aspect  into  which  I  divided  my  theme, 
viz.,  the  evolution  of  the  human  race  as  modified 
by  its  past,  present,  and  future  environments. 
Happily,  as  was  inevitable,  this  aspect  has  already 
received  much  incidental  elucidation  in  connec- 
tion with  its  correlative  theme,  whose  treatment 
we  must  now  close. 


CHAPTER  X 

MAN'S   SPIRITUAL   LIFE   A   PROCESS    OF    EVOLUTION 

IN  a  discourse,  preached  April    7,  1844,  Joseph 
Smith  takes  occasion  to  answer  the  question : 
"The  mind  of  man — the  immortal  spirit — where 
did  it  come  from?"  in  the  following  manner: 

All  learned  men  and  doctors  of  divinity  say  that 
God  created  it  in  the  beginning.  But  this  is  not  so; 
the  very  idea  lessens  man  in  my  estimation.  I  do 
not  believe  the  doctrine.  I  know  better.  Hear  it, 
all  ye  ends  of  the  world,  for  God  has  told  me  so.  .  .  . 

The  mind  or  the  intelligence  which  man  possesses 
is  co-eternal  with  God  himself.  ...  I  am 
dwelling  on  the  immortality  [i..e.,  the  intelligence  or 
immortal  essence]  of  the  spirit  of  man.  Is  it  logical 
to  say  that  the  intelligence  of  spirits  is  immortal,  and 
yet  that  it  had  a  beginning?  The  intelligence  of 
spirits  had  no  beginning,  neither  will  it  have  an  end. 
That  is  good  logic.  That  which  has  a  beginning  may 
have  an  end.  ...  I  take  my  ring  from  my  finger 
and  liken  it  to  the  mind  of  man, — the  immortal  part, 
— because  it  has  no  beginning.  Suppose  you  cut  it 
in  two;  then  it  has  a  beginning  and  an  end.  But 
join  it  again  and  it  continues  one  eternal  round. 

So  with  [the  intelligence  of]  the  spirit  of  man.  As 
78 


Man  Co-Eternal  with  God          79 

the  Lord  liveth,  if  it  had  a  beginning  it  will  have  an 
end.  All  the  fools  and  learned  and  wise  men  from 
the  beginning  of  creation,  who  say  that  [the  intelli- 
gence of]  the  spirit  of  man  had  a  beginning,  prove 
that  it  must  have  an  end;  and  if  that  doctrine  is  true, 
then  the  doctrine  of  annihilation  would  be  true. 

But  if  I  am  right,  I  might  with  boldness  proclaim 
from  the  house  tops  that  God  never  had  the  power 
to  create  [the  intelligence  of]  the  spirit  of  man  at  all. 
God  himself  could  not  create  himself.  Intelligence  is 
eternal,  and  exists  upon  a  self -existent  principle. 
.  .  .  [The  intelligence  of]  the  spirit  of  man  is  not 
a  created  being;  it  existed  from  eternity  and  will 
exist  to  eternity.1 

These  are  bold  words;  and  the  ideas  they  in- 
volve form  the  nucleus  of  a  philosophy  which  is 
new  to  the  world.  Were  you  a  Mormon,  that  is 
to  say,  were  you  in  an  attitude  to  exercise  the  re- 
quisite degree  of  faith,  the  truth  they  contain 
might  be  borne  in  upon  you  by  the  testimony  of 
the  same  spirit  which  revealed  them  to  him. 

1  The  words  in  brackets  are  my  own,  and  are  inserted  for 
two  reasons:  First,  the  context  plainly  requires  them.  Tt 
is  easy  to  understand  that  "the  intelligence  of  the  spirit" 
would  be  shortened  to  "spirit "  in  a  rapid  discourse.  Besides, 
Joseph  Smith  was  not  a  technical  scholar,  at  least,  in  the 
sense  of  a  close,  discriminative  use  of  words ;  he  spoke  with  a 
largeness  of  view  and  freedom  of  expression,  which  the 
general  spirit  of  his  teachings  never  fails  to  make  clear.  The 
other  reason  is  that  the  prophet  abundantly  taught  elsewhere 
that  God  is  the  father  of  our  spirits;  i.  e.,  of  the  spiritual 
bodies,  into  which  the  eternal  mind  or  intelligence  above 
referred  to,  was  incarnated. 


8o        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Even  without  that  mental  attitude,  however, 
they  are  ideas  which  must  challenge  the  respect- 
ful consideration  of  thinking  men  and  women; 
and  if  they  are  so  considered  they  will  not  fail  of 
vindication. 

But  let  us  first  try  to  understand  the  thought 
involved.  Mormonism  teaches  that  there  is  in 
each  human  being  an  ultimate  principle  of  life,  a 
vis  viva,  which  is  co-eternal  with  the  universe. 
The  word  "intelligence"  describes  this  principle 
somewhat  ambiguously,  since  it  has  also  other 
meanings;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  aphorism,  "The 
glory  of  God  is  intelligence,"  where  it  stands  for 
the  sum  total  of  the  developed  powers  and  attri- 
butes of  Deity. 

Had  the  Prophet  been  familiar  with  the  con- 
cepts of  modern  psychology,  he  would  probably 
have  called  this  ultimate  principle  the  ego,  or  prin- 
ciple of  self -consciousness.  Our  Father  in  heaven 
evidently  refers  to  this  eternal  principle  in  Himself 
when  He  describes  His  identity  in  the  words:  " I 
AM  THAT  I  AM,"  and  says  to  Moses,  "Thus  shalt 
thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  I  AM  hath 
sent  me  to  you  "  (Exodus  iii.,  14) ;  and  by  Mormon 
philosophy,  God  could  have  no  principle  of  exist- 
ence in  Himself  the  germ  of  which  His  children 
do  not  share. 

I  assume,  then,  that  it  is  this  principle, — the 
principle  of  self -consciousness,  or  ability  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  self  and  the  not-self,  which 
Joseph  Smith  declares  to  be  eternal ;  and  if  he  is 


Man  Co-Eternal  with  God          81 

right,  then  there  never  was  a  time  when  man  could 
not  say,  "  This  is  I,  this  is  the  universe."  Nor  will 
there  ever  come  such  a  time,  whatever  be  the 
exigencies  of  heaven  or  hell,  since  what  was  never 
•created  can  never  be  destroyed. 

Now,  respecting  the  physical  form  of  that  ulti- 
mate principle — since  form  it  must  have  had, 
being  a  reality — there  is  little  to  be  gained  by 
speculation.  Judging  by  analogy,  it  was  perhaps 
a  fainter  type  of  the  spirit,  as  the  spirit  is  a  fainter 
type  of  the  body.  But  respecting  other  attri- 
butes of  the  ego,  we  are  on  safer  ground : 

I.  This  ultimate  uncreated  being  was  a  free 
agent.  I  reach  that  conclusion  from  the  following 
reasoning :  Being  eternal,  and  therefore  co-eternal 
with  the  universe,  it  was  beholden  to  no  power 
whatever  for  its  existence ;  and  being  indestructi- 
ble, it  might,  in  a  negative  way,  defy  all  the  powers 
outside  of  itself  combined.  That  is,  if  all  the  forces 
of  the  universe  and  of  all  other  intelligent  beings 
beside  itself,  should  combine  to  make  it  say  yes, 
it  might  still  say  no,  and  maintain  its  attitude. 
This  evidently  is  the  real  meaning  of  free  agency ; 
without  such  ultimate  negative  power,  no  being 
can  be  said  to  be  free. 

Man  still  possesses  this  power,  but  a  difference 
has  sprung  into  being :  he  has  now  something  to 
lose.  He  has  the  same  right  as  ever  to  oppose  the 
powers  not  himself;  but  he  does  so  at  the  risk  of 
being  stripped  of  all  that  those  powers  have  put 
upon  him:  his  mortal  body,  his  spiritual  body, 


82        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

and  all  those  correspondences  with  the  universe 
which  obedience  to  law  has  invested  him  with. 
But  after  being  again  reduced  to  the  primal  state 
of  naked  ego,  he  could  maintain  his  negative  atti- 
tude indefinitely  and  without  fear  of  further* 
changes. 

II.  This  uncreated  being,  though  negatively 
omnipotent,  that  is,  able  to  resist  the  coercion  of 
all  other  forces  combined,  was  nevertheless  devoid, 
perhaps,  of  all  positive  power.  The  reasons  for 
this  conclusion  are  not  so  immediately  self-evi- 
dent, still  they  seem  to  me  entirely  cogent  and 
adequate.  By  positive  power,  I  mean  the  ability 
to  react  upon  spirit  or  upon  matter  so  as  to  create 
what  one  may  invent.  In  God  we  call  this  power 
omnipotence — the  power  by  which  He  shapes  the 
formed  and  limited  universe  out  of  the  formless 
and  limitless.  Man  is  not  without  this  power  in 
minor  degrees,  as  witness  the  triumph  of  our 
present  civilization. 

Now,  if  all  forms  of  positive  power  be  melted 
down  in  the  crucible  of  analysis,  we  shall  discover 
them  to  have  invariably  the  same  source — obe- 
dience to  law,  whereby,  and  whereby  only,  we  can 
enter  into  correspondences  with  the  universe. 
But  law,  let  us  not  forget,  is  the  will  of  God ;  and 
by  the  very  terms  of  our  conception,  the  ego  has 
as  yet  obeyed  no  being  outside  of  itself.  It  has 
therefore  no  creative  power  whatever.  Again,  if 
by  analysis  we  seek  the  spring  of  all  human  en- 
deavor, we  shall  discover  it  to  be  a  desire  for  in- 


Man  Co-Eternal  with  God          83 

crease  of  power — a  progressive  approach  toward 
the  omnipotence  of  God — whatever  other  names 
we  may  give  to  our  motives.  If  this,  then,  be  the 
reason  for  man's — that  is  to  say,  the  embodied 
ego's — eagerness  to  discover  and  comply  with  law 
during  the  present  epoch  of  its  being,  it  was  evi- 
dently the  reason  also  for  its  setting  out  upon  or 
beginning  the  cycle  of  evolution  which  thus  far 
has  brought  it  here.  But  if  it  already  had  power, 
what  motive  could  it  have  in  thus  coming  into 
relations  of  subordination  to  God?  There  could 
be  no  reason.  The  ego  was  therefore  a  powerless 
being,  in  point  of  execution,  whatever  it  may  have 
been  in  point  of  conception. 

III.  The  ego,  or  uncreated  being,  had  the  power 
of  faith  and  repentance,  or  at  least  the  capacity  to 
receive  these  powers  from  God.  What  the  extent 
of  its  knowledge  (as  a  mere  memorative  collection 
of  facts  disassociated  from  power)  was,  we  may 
not  know.  It  could  easily  have  been  enormous, 
it  must  at  least  have  been  rudimentary.  The 
very  fact  of  self -consciousness  involves,  as  a  cor- 
relative, the  consciousness  of  one's  environment; 
it  would  also  involve  judgment,  or  the  power  to 
distinguish  between  the  effect  of  this  and  that. 
Now,  the  essential  characteristic  of  faith  is  the 
ability  to  recognize  a  power  greater  than  one's 
self,  and  to  trust  that  power;  and  the  essential 
characteristic  of  repentance  is  to  put  oneself  in 
harmony  with  the  power  so  recognized  and 
trusted.  Whence  I  conclude  that  the  ego  had 


84        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

both  these  powers  or  the  capacity  to  receive  them 
from  God,  just  as  man  has  them  now ;  for  in  con- 
sequence of  its  exercise  of  them  it  became  man  in 
fact  and  may  become  God. 

Probably  the  first  important  occasion  pre- 
sented to  the  ego  for  saying,  "  I  will,"  was  that  of 
being  born  into  a  spiritual  tabernacle.  Let  us 
pause  to  consider  its  relative  status  after  this  tre- 
mendous event  in  its  evolution. 

First,  by  its  own  free  will  and  consent,  it  had 
become  subject  to  God.  It  had  discovered  the 
meaning  of  law  and  taken  its  first  step  in  subor- 
dination thereto.  It  had  learned  to  say,  in  the 
language  of  our  Saviour,  "Father,  Thy  will  not 
mine  be  done."  For  what  is  this  only  creed  of  the 
Saviour  but  a  concrete  formula  for  coming  into 
harmony  with  the  universe? 

In  the  next  place,  it  had  exchanged  what  must 
have  been  a  limitless,  untrammelled,  but  also  aim- 
less state  of  being, — a  state  in  which  it  could  re- 
act on  nothing,  nor  could  anything,  without  its 
consent,  react  on  it, — for  what  was  probably  an 
environment  circumscribed  and  presenting  ob- 
stacles on  every  hand.  The  nature  of  this  first 
spiritual  environment  I  hope  some  day  to  find 
time  to  discuss  under  the  title:  "  Lucifer,  the  Son 
of  the  Morning."  Here  it  must  suffice  to  point 
out  in  general  what  it  must  have  been. 

It  seems  self-evident,  does  it  not,  that  without 
an  environment  presenting  attrition  to  its  native 
powers  or  germs  of  power,  the  soul  would  have 


Man  Co-Eternal  with  God          85 

nothing  to  overcome,  and  could  therefore  develop 
no  strength  or  character.  That  law  must  have 
held  in  pre-existence  as  surely  as  it  holds  here. 
Now,  to  be  ideally  limited  and  circumscribed  an 
environment  must  present  just  that  range  of 
difficulties  which  the  powers  of  the  spirit  are  fitted 
to  surmount ;  phenomena  of  that  complexity 
which  the  mind  by  the  exertion  of  the  will  can 
comprehend  and  form  correspondences  with. 
Under  no  other  circumstances  can  there  be  growth 
and  development. 

But  as  there  actually  have  been  growth  and  de- 
velopment, we  may  infer  that  God  provided  the 
requisite  environment;  not  only  for  this  first 
stage  in  pre-existence,  but  for  every  successive 
stage  previous  to  earth  life.  It  is  also  a  legitimate 
inference,  that  however  remotely  different  was  that 
first  environment,  yet,  as  the  ages  rolled  on  which 
brought  that  life  closer  to  this,  so  the  environment 
grew  more  and  more  similar  to  our  own.  From 
another  point  of  view  we  should  say  that  the  laws 
of  nature  were  gradually  changed,  and  these  re- 
acting on  God's  spiritual  children  modified  them 
according  to  His  infinite  purposes.  For  after  all, 
what  are  laws  of  any  kind,  natural  or  spiritual, 
but  God's  media  for  creating  and  adapting  the 
environment  to  the  growing  intelligence  of  the 
race? 

As  for  the  rest,  the  spirit  being  free,  forged 
ahead  or  lagged  behind,  during  the  millions  of 
years  of  its  pre-existence,  quite  in  the  same  way 


86        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

that  it  does  here, — and  with  precisely  similar 
results.  That  is  to  say,  if  proper  exercise,  or,  in 
other  words,  proper  obedience  to  law,  develops 
any  power  of  the  soul  here,  so  it  must  have  done 
there ;  whence  we  infer  that  these  powers  known 
as  birth-traits  are  due  only  in  a  small  degree  to 
physical  heredity.  They  are  rather  the  results  of 
work  done  or  neglected  during  pre-mortal  life ;  as 
much  so,  as  traits  we  shall  manifest  in  the  here- 
after will  be  results  of  this  life  plus  that  previous 
one. 

As  to  the  first  appearance  of  man  on  this  planet, 
we  do  not  accept  the  theory  of  evolution.  Not 
that  there  would  be  anything  shocking  in  a  simian 
ancestry  on  the  physical  side,  for  the  ape,  like 
man,  is  the  work  of  God,  and  anything  from  God's 
hand  is  worthy  our  reverence.  And  if  he  had 
chosen  the  body  of  the  highest  mammal  into  which 
to  incarnate  an  immortal,  pre-existent  soul,— 
thereby  beginning  on  earth  the  race  of  man, — we 
should  accept  such  an  origin  as  altogether  beauti- 
ful and  good. 

But  Mormonism  has  a  nobler  conception.  There 
never  was  a  time  in  the  universe  when  there  was 
not  a  man  and  woman  capable  of  physical  genera- 
tion, for,  generically  speaking,  God  is  man,  and 
man  may  become  God.  Adam  and  Eve  were 
probably  translated  beings  brought  to  this  earth 
from  another  world  for  the  express  purpose  of 
beginning  the  work  of  furnishing  tabernacles  for 
spirits  awaiting  a  mortal  career. 


Man  Co-Eternal  with  God          87 

Our  first  parents  were,  indeed,  created  out  of 
the  dust  of  the  earth,  but  in  no  sense  differently 
from  the  way  we  ourselves  are  created  out  of  it; 
save  that  it  was  perhaps  the  dust  of  some  other 
earth!  This  dust,  however,  was  refined  and  or- 
ganized in  nature's  marvellous  laboratory,  ere  it 
entered  into  the  body  of  Adam  and  Eve.  Through 
the  medium  of  the  grasses  it  first  became  milk  and 
butter,  or,  as  in  the  offering  of  Sarah  to  the  heav- 
enly visitors  in  Abraham's  tent — "  young  calf, 
tender  and  good";  through  the  combined  agen- 
cies of  the  growing  wheat,  the  milk,  and  the  oven, 
it  turned  up  as  well  browned  and  steaming  break- 
fast rolls;  the  flowers  contributed  dust  to  the 
growing  Adam  and  Eve  as  honey,  the  orchards  as 
rosy-cheeked  apples  and  luscious  grapes,  and  so 
on  of  all  other  natural — which  is  to  say  divine- 
contributory  factors.  Does  it  not  infinitely  dig- 
nify God  to  picture  Him  in  this  r61e  of  Creator, 
rather  than  in  that  other  clumsy,  mechanical 
trade  of  the  potter  fashioning  a  mud  man,  and 
breathing  into  him  the  breath  of  life? 

Respecting  the  evolution  of  man  in  this  life  and 
the  next,  whether  as  an  individual  or  as  a  race, 
the  chapters  which  follow  will  speak  somewhat 
more  at  length. 

Suffice  it  here  to  point  out  in  brief  that  Mor- 
monism  interprets,  correlates,  and  thinks  into  one 
vast  and  progressive  unity  all  the  experiences  that 
can  come  to  the  human  family  during  the  passage 
of  the  ages.  And  I  can  conclude  this  chapter  in 


88        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

no  fitter  way  than  to  refer  to  what  I  regard  as  the 
sublimest  utterance  of  modern  times,  if  not  of  all 
time;  the  dominant  note  of  Mormonism,  and  an 
epitome  of  its  philosophy;  a  climax  in  the  trend 
of  evolution,  which  even  the  bravest  of  evolution- 
ists have  not  dared  to  utter ;  a  truth  which  when 
understood  in  all  its  bearings,  gives  unity  and 
perspective  to  life,  and  becomes  a  key  to  the 
meaning  of  the  universe;  an  aphorism  which  re- 
sembles indeed  and  deserves  to  stand  by  the  side 
of  those  immortal  words  with  which  Christ  points 
out  that  the  final  purpose  of  life  is  to  become  per- 
fect as  our  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect.  This  is 
the  utterance:  "As  MAN  is  GOD  ONCE  WAS:  AS 

GOD  IS  MAN  MAY  BECOME." 

To  men  and  women  unacquainted  with  our 
religion,  this  sounds  like  blasphemy.  But  con- 
sider for  a  moment  that  mind  is  infinite,  and  time 
endless;  besides  "This  is  life  eternal,"  said  the 
Saviour,  "to  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and 
Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent."  How  can  we 
truly  know  God,  save  as  we  become  like  Him? 
And  if  we  are  His  children,  does  not  all  analogy 
proclaim  it  possible  to  become  like  Him?  Admit 
this  possibility  and  the  aphorism  above  quoted 
follows ;  at  any  rate,  let  the  reader  hold  the  sub- 
lime thought  in  view,  and  see  what  comes  of  it  in 
the  discussion  which  follows. 


CHAPTER  XI 

HOW   GOD    IS    SHAPING   THE    DESTINY    OF   MANKIND 

NEARLY  three  thousand  years  ago  there  lived 
in  Asia  a  man  in  whom  human  egotism  and 
arrogance  had  almost  reached  their  apotheosis .  As 
he  walked  one  day  in  the  "  palace  of  the  kingdom," 
the  swelling  pride  of  his  heart  found  voice  in  this 
piece  of  vainglory:  "Is  not  this  great  Babylon, 
which  I  have  built  for  the  royal  dwelling  place,  by 
the  might  of  my  power  and  for  the  glory  of  my 
majesty?" 

But  hardly  had  the  word  left  his  mouth  when 
there  fell  a  voice  from  heaven  saying,  "O  king 
Nebuchadnezzar,  to  thee  it  is  spoken:  The  king- 
dom is  departed  from  thee.  And  thou  shalt  be 
driven  from  men,  and  thy  dwelling  shall  be  with 
the  beasts  of  the  field ;  thou  shalt  be  made  to  eat 
grass  as  oxen,  and  seven  times  shall  pass  over  thee ; 
until  thou  know  that  the  Most  High  ruleth  in  the 
kingdom  of  men"  .  .  .  "  In  the  same  hour  was 
the  thing  fulfilled.  ...  He  was  driven  from 
men,  and  did  eat  grass  as  oxen,  and  his  body  was 
wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  till  his  hair  was  grown 
like  eagles'  feathers,  and  his  nails  like  birds'  claws." 

89 


90        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

The  lesson  proved  effective.  "At  the  end  of 
the  days,"  said  the  humbled  monarch,  "I  lifted 
up  mine  eyes  unto  heaven,  and  my  understanding 
returned  unto  me,  and  I  blessed  the  Most  High, 
and  praised  and  honored  him  that  liveth  forever. 

.  .  He  doeth  according  to  his  will  .  .  . 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth;  .  .  .  for  all 
his  works  are  truth,  and  his  ways  judgment :  and 
those  that  walk  in  pride,  he  is  able  to  abase."  1 

Thus  was  mankind  given  a  striking  object  lesson 
of  God's  regnancy  among  even  godless  nations. 
And  if  He  can  so  correlate  environment  as  to 
bridge  the  extremes  of  human  and  brute  life  in  a 
short  "seven  times"  (years?),  how  much  more 
easily  can  He  shape  the  destiny  of  a  people, — by 
forces  ever  persistent  and  yet  so  subtle  that  they 

1  Daniel,  fourth  chapter.  It  seems  to  me  hardly  a  legiti- 
mate inference,  from  this  single  example,  that  every  king  or 
kingling  holds  his  transitory  supremacy  by  God's  appoint- 
ment or  conscious  sufferance.  That  would  lead  to  the  doc- 
trine of  divine  rights  of  kings.  God  is  no  doubt  aware  of 
the  social  changes  among  men,  since  He  notes  the  sparrow's 
fall;  but  His  manner  of  ruling  among  the  nations  is  rather 
that  of  letting  people  alone — leaving  them  free  to  work  out 
their  wills — but  taking  care  of  general  results.  Is  it  not  a 
nobler  conception  to  believe  that  He  moulds  a  nation  as  He 
shapes  a  landscape — by  the  constant  application  of  cosmic 
forces?  I  cannot  believe  that  yonder  tremendous  cliff,  which 
a  waterfall  is  slowly  wearing  away,  is  an  object  of  God's 
immediate  concern.  No  more,  then,  is  the  ordinary  prince- 
ling who  gets  really  too  much  honor  by  this  comparison.  But 
just  as  this  mighty  gorge  is  being  hollowed  out  of  the  solid 
mountain  by  natural  forces,  so  both  prince  and  people  are 
yielding,  generation  after  generation,  to  God's  steadfast 
purposes. 


Shaping  Man's  Destiny  91 

shall  never  guess  their  trend  and  tendency !  In  a 
former  chapter,  it  was  maintained  that  the  earth 
with  all  its  furniture  constitutes  a  divine  univer- 
sity for  the  education  of  God's  children.  This 
conception  would  certainly  imply  His  general  con- 
trol, not  only  of  its  mighty  laboratories,  but  also 
of  the  students  themselves;  not,  indeed,  in  that 
close,  personal,  not  to  say  tyrannical  supervision, 
which  even  our  foremost  schools  are  beginning  to 
perceive  is  abortive  and  fruitless ;  but  such  a  con- 
trol as  is  consistent  with  complete  individual 
freedom.  If  this  view  is  well  taken,  such  divine 
regnancy  in  the  social  affairs  of  mankind  ought  to 
be  apparent  in  history.  Let  us  therefore  take  a 
swift  glance  along  the  ages.  Fortunately  for  us, 
our  vistas  are  longer  and  more  clearly  defined  than 
were  those  open  to  the  eyes  of  Daniel. 

In  the  comparisons  to  which  I  shall  presently 
invite  the  attention  of  the  reader,  it  will  be  well  to 
have  some  criterion  of  judgment, — the  noblest, 
most  far-reaching  ideal,  if  possible,  which  the  race 
has  yet  conceived.  I  shall  spend  no  time  in 
arguing  that  this  ideal  is  precisely  that  set  forth 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence:  "We  hold 
these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are 
created  equal,  and  endowed  by  their  Creator  with 
certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  The  equal 
freedom,  the  equal  dignity  of  the  individual — an 
ideal  perceived  glimmeringly  but  not  yet  attained 
by  the  race — is  then  to  be  our  criterion.  It  is  part 


92        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

of  the  Gospel  ideal,  as  I  shall  demonstrate  in  a 
later  chapter, — "the  perfect  law  of  liberty." 

Compare,  then,  in  respect  of  this  principle,  the 
history  of  the  first  half  of  the  world  with  that  of 
the  last  half.  They  will  be  seen  to  be  completely 
antipodal.  The  relationship  may  be  compared  to 
that  of  two  recumbent  pyramids,  side  by  side,  the 
bases  at  opposite  ends.  The  pyramid  pointing 
this  way  represents  the  old-world  civilization — a 
civilization  the  outcome,  not  of  right,  but  of 
might.  Tyranny  and  sycophancy  represent  re- 
spectively the  two  phases  of  nearly  every  domi- 
nant Old  World  nation.  Turn  the  coin  over  as 
many  times  as  you  will,  and  these  qualities  merely 
change  places — tyranny  above,  sycophancy  below. 
No  amount  of  suffering  could  teach  the  slave 
leniency,  when  fate  happened  to  make  him 
rnaster.  The  two  qualities  are  in  fact  reciprocal: 
every  tyrant  is  merely  a  dominant  slave,  every 
slave  a  fawning  tyrant.  The  freeman  at  heart 
can  be  neither ;  for  if  fortune  put  him  in  chains,  he 
will  prefer  to  die  rather  than  kiss  the  hand  that 
bruises  him;  if  it  elevate  him  to  power,  he  must 
give  freedom  to  others,  for  freedom  is  in  his  heart. 

The  point  to  note  is  this:  the  tyrant  and  the 
slave  are  not  the  products  of  a  certain  kind  of 
civilization.  The  opposite  is  more  nearly  true; 
the  tyrant-slave  social  status  is  merely  the  ex- 
pression of  the  universal  slave-tyrant  spirit  of  its 
peoples.  No  matter  what  age  of  the  world  they 
should  have  lived  in,  their  civilization  would  have 


Shaping  Man's  Destiny  93 

been  the  same.  "Men  do  not  gather  figs  from 
thorns  nor  grapes  from  thistles."  That  which 
constitutes  the  essence  of  the  soul  will  inevitably 
bloom  into  act  and  ripen  into  institution.1 

The  general  proof  of  this  lies  in  the  fact  that  in- 
dividual liberty,  as  we  are  coming  to  understand 
it,  is  by  no  means  an  evolution  of  those  ancient 
races,  but  of  an  entirely  different  race — whence 
the  reader  will  note  that  my  second  pyramid, 
though  alongside  is  yet  separate  from  the  first. 
Moreover,  the  modern  descendants  of  those  an- 
cient world-powers,  the  hordes  of  Africa  and 
Asia,  do  not  differ  to-day  from  their  ancestors  in 
the  slave-tyrant  spirit :  they  differ  only  in  psychic 
puissance,  being  mere  echoes  of  their  mighty  pro- 
genitors. 

But  let  us  come  into  closer  quarters  with  these 
ancient  peoples.  Has  it  occurred  to  believers  in 

1  I  do  not  forget  that  environment  never  ceases  to  modify, 
and  consequently  that  the  slave-tyrant  civilization  here 
pointed  out  as  a  universal  effect  of  pre-existent  spiritual  bias, 
becomes  by  reaction  an  active  cause  in  the  same  direction. 
Relatively,  however,  this  secondary  bias  is  very  small — just 
what  we  should  expect  when  we  measure  the  time  of  its 
operation  with  the  almost  infinite  stretches  during  which  the 
dominant  bias  accumulated.  If  a  given  fraction,  say  one  per 
cent,  only,  of  our  present  population,  were  belated  spirits  of 
the  slave-tyrant  type,  we  should  perhaps  materially  modify 
them,  so  persistent  and  dynamic  would  be  the  influence  of 
our  free  ideals.  Conversely,  if  a  single  generation  of  the 
spirits  now  being  born  could  have  exchanged  places  with 
the  ancients,  each  would  in  turn  have  attempted  the  over- 
throw of  existing  institutions ;  but  at  what  cost  of  revolution 
and  bloodshed! 


94        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

the  Mosaic  account  that  the  descendants  of  Cain 
the  murderer,  were  perhaps  incomparably  su- 
perior to  the  descendants  of  Seth,  in  point  of  ma- 
terial civilization?  I  base  this  conclusion  on 
three  facts  in  the  antedeluvian  record.  First, 
Cain's  posterity  were  workers  in  brass  and  iron 
(Gen.  iv.,  22).  It  needs  no  argument  to  show  that 
brass  and  iron  imply  a  high  state  of  mechanical 
development — cities,  manufactures,  trades,  arts. 
Second,  they  were  the  makers  and  users  of  mu- 
sical instruments  (Gen.  iv.,  21),  hence,  by  parity 
of  reasoning,  they  had  attained  a  social  life  of  no 
mean  artistic  refinement.  Third,  it  became  neces- 
sary to  forbid  the  sons  of  God — Seth's  descend- 
ants— from  intermarrying  with  the  sons  of  men,— 
Cain's  descendants.1 

Yet  in  spite  of  the  divine  prohibition,  "the 
sons  of  God  saw  the  daughters  of  men,  that  they 
were  fair ;  and  they  took  them  wives  of  all  which 
they  chose"  (Gen.  vi.,  3).  Is  not  this  precisely 
what  we  should  expect  from  the  conclusion  I  have 
drawn  as  to  the  respective  rank  in  civilization  of 
the  two  races?  For  where  a  people  attain  a  rela- 

1  That  such  a  prohibition  must  have  been  made  by  the  Lord 
is  evident,  not  only  from  the  fact  that  intermarriages  of  this 
kind  are  mentioned  among  the  reasons  for  the  Flood  (Gen.  vi. , 
2,  3,  12),  but  also  from  other  passages,  making  similar  inter- 
marriages a  sin.  (See  Ezra  ix.,  6;  Nehemiah  xiii.,  26,  27;  2 
Cor.  vi.,  14).  New  and  wonderful  light  is  thrown  upon  the 
relationships  of  the  peoples  before  and  after  the  Flood,  by 
revelations  to  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith.  Thence  we  learn 
that  the  expression  "All  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way  upon 
the  earth,"  signifies  that  the  pure  race  of  Seth,  which  alone 


Shaping  Man's  Destiny  95 

tively  high  status  in  material  art  and  artistic  re- 
finement, there  the  daughters — and  sons  as  well- 
will  be  "fair  to  look  upon"  and  attractive,  even 
though  they  bear  the  mark  of  Cain ;  so  much  so, 
that  the  sons  and  daughters  of  a  race,  higher  per- 
haps in  spiritual  ideals,  but  lower  in  the  trappings 
of  this  world's  ideals,  will  inevitably  be  won  over 
by  them. 

This  civilization  was  continued  after  the  Flood 
in  Egypt  and  Babylon;  a  civilization  tinctured 
through  and  through  with  the  slave-tyrant  con- 
ception of  life.  What  are  the  remnants  of  its 
massive  architecture,  but  monuments  to  the  abso- 
lute supremacy  of  the  monarch,  the  absolute  sub- 
serviency of  the  people  ?  The  same  tale  is  told  by 
its  sculpture  and  painting :  the  slave-tyrant  spirit 
made  these  arts  stand  still,  by  national  decree,  ere 
their  evolution  had  fairly  begun.  And  so  of  their 
religions :  salvation,  the  result  of  coming  into  har- 
mony with  universal  law,  was  not  dreamed  of  by 
them.  It  is  divine  vengeance — angered  tyranny 
—that  is  always  to  be  avoided,  and  divine  favor- 
could  hold  the  Priesthood  and  therefore  be  the  oracles  of  God, 
was  all  but  extinct  through  transgressions  of  God's  command 
not  to  intermarry  with  the  cursed  race;  that,  indeed,  the 
Flood  became  necessary  in  order  that  the  two  races  might 
start  on  more  equal  footing  for  posterity.  Even  as  it  was, 
Ham's  wife  was  of  Cain's  seed.  (Whence  the  real  reason  for 
Cain's  curse  being  perpetuated  through  Canaan,  Ham's  son.) 
But  this  was  no  accident ;  it  became  necessary  in  order  that 
a  lineage  might  be  continued  on  the  earth  for  the  rest  of  the 
spirits  in  heaven  entitled  to  no  better  earth-life  than  that  of 
Cain's  posterity. 


96        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

placated  tyranny — that  is  always  to  be  sought. 
And  what  but  a  race  of  slaves  at  heart  could 
descend  to  the  depths  of  superstition  and  degrada- 
tion to  which  they  fell,  in  their  supposed  attain- 
ment of  these  ends?  Nor  does  their  literature 
change  this  general  estimate  of  them.  As  fast  as 
it  is  recovered,  it  only  echoes  feebly  what  the 
monuments  of  their  history  have  already  pro- 
claimed with  a  trumpet. 

For  convenience's  sake — though  a  name  is  not 
of  vital  significance — this  civilization  may  be 
called  that  of  Ham.  Its  zenith  was  perhaps  at- 
tained in  the  days  of  the  Pyramid  builders;  un- 
less indeed  a  greater  was  overwhelmed  by  the 
Flood.  Slumbering  in  the  dust  is  now  the  flower 
of  that  race  once  so  mighty  in  intellect  and  will, 
but  removed,  in  the  cravenness  of  their  souls,  only 
a  few  degrees  above  their  brethren,  the  Devil  and 
his  angels,  who  were  cast  out  of  heaven.  Gone 
forever  is  the  menace  of  their  evil  institutions, 
thanks  to  the  God  of  heaven.  For  their  descend- 
ants, though  perhaps  not  materially  diminished 
in  numbers,  crawl  feebly  about  like  ants  among 
the  columns  of  Karnac.  No  sadder  commentary 
on  their  mental  inferiority  is  possible  than  the 
hovels  they  sometimes  build  from  the  crumbling 
fragments  of  prince's  palaces,  and  in  the  very 
halls  of  departed  royalty! 

Nor  shall  they  ever  again  be  factors  in  world- 
shaping.  Education  may  put  on  them  the  veneer 
of  the  prevailing  civilization,  and  here  and  there 


Shaping  Man's  Destiny  97 

a  belated  spirit  may  rise  to  centre  with  pride  the 
eyes  of  the  race;  but  the  ingrained  attitude  of 
their  souls,  biased  by  a  million  ages  of  pre-existent 
false  ideals,  will  not  be  materially  changed  by 
superficial  contact  with  nobler  conceptions  during 
the  brief  passage  of  time.  Let  us  be  grateful, 
then,  for  the  feebleness  in  conception  and  will, 
which  prevents  them  from  combining  to  give  ex- 
pression to  that  bias  in  the  resuscitation  of  their 
ancient  institutions. 

Let  us  next  give  attention  to  the  other  pyramid, 
under  which  figure  I  seek  to  indicate  the  gradual 
growth  of  our  foremost  modern  ideal,  the  essential 
freedom  and  equality  of  the  individual.  This 
may  be  called  the  civilization  of  Shem.  Its  glory 
has  already  eclipsed  the  combined  glories  of  an- 
cient world  powers  and  the  end  is  not  yet.  The 
base  of  this  pyramid  shall  indeed  be  supported  by 
the  Millennium  itself,  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  the 
earth. 

Its  apex  was  Adam;  the  ideal  for  which  it 
stands  was  kept  alive  to  the  days  of  Shem  through 
the  lineage  of  Seth  and  the  antedeluvian  patri- 
archs. Respecting  the  social  institutions  of  this 
race  there  is  no  hint  in  the  sacred  record.1  But  in 

1  Save  in  the  case  of  Enoch,  the  sixth  from  Adam.  The 
enigmatical  statement  in  Genesis  (vi.,  22,  24)  that  "Enoch 
walked  with  God  for  three  hundred  years  .  .  .  and  was 
not,  for  God  took  him,"  is  explained  in  a  revelation  to 
Joseph  Smith,  to  signify  that  Enoch  instituted  a  commun- 
istic order,  on  the  lines  of  that  set  forth  by  Edward  Bellamy 
in  his  Looking  Backward,  which  developed  such  perfect  social 


98        The  Science  of  Mormonism 

the  absence  of  evidence  to  the  contrary,  we  are 
justified  in  believing  it  was  similar  to  that  of 
Abraham — a  pastoral  life,  close  to  the  heart  of 
nature,  and  answering  admirably  to  the  dominant 
instinct  of  individual  liberty.  The  very  simpli- 
city of  such  a  life,  free  as  it  was  from  all  the  trap- 
pings of  power,  could  excite  only  contempt  in 
monarchs  of  the  Hamitic  type.  Its  obscurity  was 
therefore  its  protection.  All  of  the  race  that  re- 
mained true  to  their  spiritual  ideals  would,  how- 
ever, cling  to  it  in  spite  of  such  contempt.  The 
rest  would  inevitably  be  caught  by  the  external 
glitter  of  the  superior  material  civilization,  and 
so  be  gradually  absorbed  by  the  dominant  race. 
As  this  is  precisely  what  happened,  it  is  indirectly 
an  evidence  of  the  view  above  taken,  that  the  in- 
dividual-liberty ideal  should  date  from  the  father 
of  the  race. 

Trace  now  the  gradual  widening  of  our  second 
pyramid  throughout  the  history  of  Israel.  Ob- 
serve the  individual-liberty  ideal  flash  out:  in 
Joseph  tempted  by  Potiphar's  wife;  in  the  laws 
of  Moses,  securing  justice  to  the  most  defenseless ; 
in  the  reign  of  the  Judges  for  over  four  hundred 
years ;  in  most  of  the  incidents  in  the  life  of  David 
and  in  his  writings ;  in  the  fearless  denunciation  by 
the  ancient  prophets;  in  Daniel  refusing  to  bow 

harmony  that  the  founder  and  his  city  were  taken  from  this 
earth  as  translated  beings,  even  as  was  Elijah  in  a  later  day. 
This  revelation  only  emphasizes,  however,  the  attitude  above 
taken ;  for  what  is  such  an  order  of  society,  but  the  complete 
triumph  of  individual  liberty  and  equality  ? 


Shaping  Man's  Destiny  99 

down  to  Nebuchadnezzar's  golden  image;  in  the 
song  of  Hannah  and  Mary:  "He  hath  brought 
down  the  mighty  and  exalted  them  of  low  degree." 

Even  when  Israel  swerved  from  this  ideal,  se- 
duced by  the  example  of  neighboring  nations,  and 
set  up  a  king,  they  never  became  basely  subser- 
vient. This  is  especially  apparent  in  the  demand 
made  by  the  Ten  Tribes  of  Rehoboam,  that  he  ease 
the  yoke  which  Solomon  had  put  upon  them ;  and 
when  this  ill-advised  young  lion's  whelp  an- 
swered :  "  Whereas  my  father  did  lade  you  with  a 
heavy  yoke,  I  will  add  to  your  yoke:  my  father 
chastised  you  with  whips,  but  I  will  chastise  you 
with  scorpions," — an  immediate  cry  went  up: 
"To  your  tents,  O  Israel,"  and  they  all  revolted 
in  a  day. 

Is  there  not  in  this  sturdy  resistance  to  oppres- 
sion something  akin  to  the  spirit  of  the  Barons  of 
England  who  won  the  Magna  Charta  from  King 
John  at  Runymede;  or  the  still  more  immortal 
Continental  Congress  which  fashioned  the  De- 
claration of  Independence?  Nor  are  these  mere 
coincidences  in  history,  for  when  the  links  in  the 
social  evolution  of  the  Semitic  race  shall  all  be 
taken  up,  it  will  be  found  that  the  Anglo-Saxon 
peoples  are  lineal  descendants  of  that  same  Ten 
Tribes  who  defied  the  arrogancy  of  Solomon's 
successor. 

But  it  remained  for  Jesus  Christ  to  give  the  su- 
preme and  final  expression  to  this  law  of  human 
liberty,  and  so  to  interweave  it  with  man's  hope 


TOO      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

of  eternal  life  that  it  shall  never  be  improved  upon 
throughout  eternity.  When  He  proclaimed  the 
Golden  Rule:  "Do  ye  unto  others,  as  ye  would 
have  others  do  unto  you,"  He  associated  the  law 
with  perfect  justice;  but  this  was  only  an  ap- 
proach to  its  final  expression.  When  He  de- 
clared him  greatest  among  mankind  who  most 
served  mankind,  He  carried  the  law  beyond  mere 
justice.  But  when  He  taught  mankind  not  to 
resent  evil,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  return  good 
for  evil;  to  love  your  enemies,  and  do  good  to 
them  that  despitefully  use  you,  He  associated 
it  with  the  love  of  God,  which  passeth  human 
understanding. 

As  these  teachings  shall  become  real  and  vital 
in  the  lives  of  men,  so  will  the  ills  and  wrongs  of 
society  disappear,  and  that  perfect  social  equality 
.dreamed  of  by  poet,  prophet,  and  philosopher  as 
the  Millennium, — that  state  foreshadowed  in  the 
Lord's  Prayer:  "Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it 
is  done  in  heaven," — take  the  place  of  the  multi- 
form social  distractions  which  now  divide  and 
embitter  mankind. 

We  have  thus  traced  the  sudden  rise  and  grad- 
ual waning  of  the  old-world  or  slave-tyrant  ideal 
of  human  sovereignty,  and  contrasted  it  step  by 
step  with  the  gradual  crescence  of  its  antipodal 
ideal,  that  of  individual  liberty  and  equality; 
finding  that  the  two  are  in  no  way  related  as  cause 
and  effect,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  each  is 
the  spontaneous  expression  of  a  distinct  class  of 


Shaping  Man's  Destiny          101 

spirits,  which,  for  convenience,  have  been  named 
respectively  after  Ham  and  Shem.  But  as  in  all 
problems  involving  extremes,  so  here  we  have 
still  to  deal  with  the  means, — a  compromise  civi- 
lization, which  may  be  named  after  Japheth,  the 
third  son  of  Noah. 

Call  to  mind  first  the  prophetic  blessing  and 
cursing  which  the  old  patriarch  pronounced  upon 
his  three  sons,  or  rather  upon  his  two  eldest  sons, 
and  the  son  of  his  youngest :  "  Cursed  be  Canaan, 
a  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren. 
Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Shem,  and  Canaan 
shall  be  his  servant.  God  shall  enlarge  Japheth, 
and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem;  and 
Canaan  shall  be  his  servant." 

Whether  all  the  future  of  Ham — who  may  have 
had  other  sons — was  bound  up  in  the  curse  of 
Canaan  does  not  appear.  History  would  say  not ; 
but  that  the  latter  end  of  Ham  is  thus  decreed,  the 
foregoing  discussion  will  surely  have  made  plain. 
In  Shem's  blessing,  note  the  peculiar  use  of  the 
phrase  "Lord  God";  prefiguring,  what  history 
has  since  demonstrated,  that  this  race  was  to  be 
the  conservators  of  our  great  religious  ideals: 
bequeathing  to  the  world  the  Bible,  the  Book 
of  Mormon,  the  Koran,  and  the  Zend-Avesta. 
Japheth  was  to  be  "enlarged,"  and  to  "dwell 
in  the  tents  of  Shem."  The  first  idea  would 
imply  that  he  [was  to  be  second  to  Shem  in 
greatness;  the  second  evidently  that  his  ideals 
should  be  borrowed  from  Shem.  What  else  than 


102       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

institutions  and  ideals  could  the  figure  "tent" 
stand  for,  applied  in  the  large  sense  of  racial 
evolution  ? 

At  any  rate,  the  civilization  of  Greece  and  Rome 
presents  just  such  a  compromise  relationship  with 
the  civilization  of  Shem.  Here,  indeed,  was  frater- 
nity, but  it  lacked  the  deep  spiritual  source  incul- 
cated by  the  Nazarene,  and  actually  forming  the 
matrix  of  Anglo-Saxon  democracy.  It  depended 
rather  on  birth  and  equality  in  martial  prowess. 
Greeks  to  Greeks,  and  Romans  to  Romans,  were 
freemen;  but  all  other  nations  were  barbarians, 
and  were,  in  fact,  made  slaves  without  a  trace  of 
moral  compunction.  Moreover,  there  was  a  con- 
stant tendency  to  veer  toward  monarchy :  Caesars 
and  Napoleons  are,  indeed,  perilously  dear  to  the 
race  even  to-day. 

•  In  religion  the  same  compromise  is  visible. 
They  consented  here  also  to  "  dwell  in  the  tents  of 
Shem,"  but  they  impress  one  as  being  guests 
rather  than  natives.  Unlike  dwellers  to  the  tent 
born,  truth  as  an  abstract  entity  has  little  sig- 
nificance to  them.  Though  they  accepted  the 
tenets  of  Christ,  they  retained  their  pagan  forms ; 
for  the  race  is  dearly  in  love  with  pomp  and  cir- 
cumstance. Whence  also  the  propagation  of  their 
faith  is  rather  by  person-worship  and  fetich- 
worship  than  through  the  apperception  of  prin- 
ciple ;  by  ritual  and  ceremonial  rather  than  through 
the  realization  of  divine  law. 

As  respects  industrial  civilization,  what  inven- 


Shaping  Man's  Destiny          103 

tions  have  they  not  borrowed  from  Shem? J  In 
political  institutions  the  tendency  also  is  toward 
the  free  forms  of  the  North ;  but  does  any  student 
of  political  science  seriously  believe  that  republics 
can  flourish  south  of  the  Alps  and  Carpathians? 
In  Latin  America  we  have  a  number  of  petty  ex- 
periments in  free  government,  nearly  all  proverbial 
for  their  instability.  Mexico,  the  only  real  ex- 
ception, is  a  republic  only  in  name.  Although  its 
chief  executive  is  by  courtesy  called  President, 
there  has  been  no  national  election  for  twenty- 
five  years.  Such  a  policy  on  the  part  of  President 
Diaz  has  no  doubt  been  the  wisest  compromise 
possible,  considering  the  nature  of  the  people  over 
whom  he  presides;  nevertheless,  when  compared 
with  the  fearless  methods  of  America,  Canada,  and 
Australia,  it  serves  only  to  emphasize  the  position 
of  the  Latin  races  as  "dwellers  in  the  tents  of 
Shem." 

In  this  very  fact,  however,  lies  the  promise  of 
safety  to  the  social  evolution  of  the  world.  Time 
was  when  the  race  dominated  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  earth;  but  it  has  evidently  passed  its 
zenith  long  ago ;  and  mankind  need  therefore  fear 
no  future  disturbance  of  world- wide  consequence. 
That  certain  branches  are  farther  gone  in  deca- 
dence than  others  was  painfully  manifested  in  the 

1  I  have  no  desire  to  minimize  the  greatness  of  Japheth's 
contributions  to  civilization;  these  contributions  are,  how- 
ever, such  as  spring  out  of  a  race  genius  for  externalities — 
sculpture,  painting,  music,  discipline — rather  than  out  of  such 
profound,  spiritual  ideals  as  those  for  which  Shem  is  noted. 


104      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

pusillanimity  exhibited  by  the  Spaniards  in  the 
late  war  with  the  United  States;  but  that  even 
the  foremost  branch  could,  as  a  nation,  acquiesce 
in  and  maintain  a  lie  in  the  Dreyfus  trial,  shows 
that  the  French  themselves  are  headed  down- 
ward. 

The  future  of  the  Hamitic  race  is  undoubtedly 
that  pointed  out  by  Noah :  "  A  servant  of  servants 
shall  he  be  to  his  brethren."  Not  in  the  sense  of 
bondage, — for  slavery  debases  the  slave-holder 
more  than  it  harms  the  slave, — but  in  the  sense  of 
the  "hewer  of  wood  and  the  drawer  of  water" 
for  his  brother.  In  other  words,  he  will  be  the 
artisan  of  the  world.  The  future  of  the  Japhetic 
race  will  probably  be  that  of  gradual  absorption 
and  assimilation  with  the  dominant  civilization. 
The  future  of  the  Semitic  race — who  can  paint 
its  transcendent  outcome!  For  the  day-star  of 
its  greatness  has  but  barely  risen. 

Thus  has  the  "Most  High  ruled  among  the 
kingdoms  of  men."  How  He  has  brought  about 
so  marvellous  an  evolution  of  mankind  will  be 
discussed  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XII 

HOW   GOD    RULES   AMONG   THE    NATIONS 

AS  will  have  been  gathered  by  the  thoughtful 
reader  of  the  last  chapter,  God  shapes  the 
destiny  of  nations,  during  this  middle  epoch,  or 
second  estate  of  man,  by  the  inevitable  self- 
classification  of  spirits  during  their  pre-mortal 
life.  The  doctrine  of  pre-existence,  in  so  far  as  it 
is  revealed  by  Scripture,  is  reserved  for  treatment 
in  the  Appendix  (see  A),  since  this  exposition 
proceeds  by  scientific  rather  than  by  dogmatic 
arguments.  Here  the  doctrine  is  put  forward 
merely  as  an  hypothesis,  and  no  other  warrant  is 
claimed  for  its  acceptance,  than  what  obtains  in 
other  probable  reasoning.  If  it  explains  phe- 
nomena otherwise  inexplicable,  or  but  faultily 
explicable  by  other  theories,  it  will  appeal  to 
the  searcher  after  final  causes ;  if  not,  it  may  be 
passed  by. 

Not  that  I  shall  be  able,  in  so  brief  and  indirect 
a  treatment  as  can  be  accorded  it  here,  to  exhaust 
the  reasons  for  its  acceptance;  other  reasons— 
notably  those  which  theosophists  marshall  in  sup- 
port of  reincarnation — will  occur  to  the  student 

105 


io6      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

who  tries  to  account  for  the  mysteries  of  life ;  es- 
pecially those  mysteries  which  are  manifested  in 
the  phenomena  clustering  around  heredity.  I 
may  add,  furthermore,  that,  as  in  the  case  of  many 
other  tenets  of  religion,  the  final  testimony  of  its 
truth  must  come,  when  it  does  come,  rather  by  the 
inborn  revelation  of  the  Infinite  to  each  individual 
soul,  than  upon  the  evidence  either  of  Scripture  or 
of  reason. 

Assuming,  then,  that  all  men  who  have  func- 
tioned or  will  function  on  this  earth  had  a 
pre-existence,  in  which  the  laws  of  psychic  develop- 
ment were  the  same  as  here ;  and  that,  being  free, 
such  spirits  must  react  on,  and  be  shaped  by  en- 
vironment according  to  their  interpretation  of 
phenomena — precisely  also  as  in  mortal  life, — is 
it  not  more  than  probable  that  many — perhaps 
most — would  locate  Authority,  or  the  compelling 
force  of  the  universe,  in  personality,  the  concrete 
form,  rather  than  in  divine  law,  the  abstract  truth 
entity  behind  that  form?  Mortals  do  that,  in 
spite  of  all  God's  efforts  to  make  them  love 
the  truth  rather  than  the  dispenser  of  the  truth. 
This  would  account  for  Lucifer's  seducing,  by  the 
contagion  of  a  persuasive  personality,  one  third 
of  the  spirits  in  heaven  into  open  rebellion  against 
the  impregnable  forces  of  universal  law.  It  would 
also  account  for  the  slave-tyrant  bias  out  of  which 
sprang  the  old  civilization  of  the  world:  for  the 
Alexander  and  Caesar  vortexes  in  ancient  times  and 
for  the  Napoleonic  cyclones  in  our  own  day. 


How  God  Rules  Nations         107 

Apply  now  the  simple  law  that  like  adheres  to 
like,  and  we  should  inevitably  have  self -classifica- 
tion of  spirits  in  heaven.  Next  take  into  account 
that  in  any  vast  aggregation  of  spirits  brought  to- 
gether by  concurrent  conceptions  as  to  the  final 
location  of  authority,  there  must  be  all  degrees  of 
masterfulness — for  this  quality  is  based  purely  on 
intellectual  weight.  Approaches  now  the  time, 
when  the  demands  of  psychic  evolution  require  a 
more  restricted  environment,  a  new  or  mortal 
world,  such  as  we  are  now  in. 

What  will  happen  in  that  new  world  ?  It  would 
hardly  need  the  wisdom  of  God  to  foresee  that 
there  will  be  endless  conflicts,  where  final  author- 
ity is  conceived  to  be  located  in  persons  rather 
than  in  law.  Would  not  infinite  justice  demand, 
then,  that  these  spirits  be  mortalized  at  such  a 
time  and  in  such  an  order,  as  least  to  upset  God's 
plans ;  i.  e.,  as  least  to  injure  the  evolution  of  souls 
who  were  beginning  to  perceive  the  true  source  of 
authority  in  law? 

The  flower  of  the  Hamitic  race  were  accordingly 
sent  to  earth  when  the  world  was  young  and 
empty ;  when,  outside  their  own  ranks,  they  must 
war  upon  rocks  and  trees  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
forest.  It  was  surely  wiser  to  bank  their  fury  in 
pyramids  of  stone  than  in  a  Caesar's  column  of 
human  skulls.1  Reflect  for  a  moment  how  im- 
possible would  have  been  the  present  and  future 
civilization  of  Shem  if  the  Hamitic  spirits  had 
1  Vide  C&sar's  Column,  by  Ignatius  Donelly. 


io8       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

come  to  earth  in  reverse  order,  or  even  if  Japheth's 
"enlargement"  had  been  placed  elsewhere  than 
in  the  swelling  tide  of  Greece  and  Rome.  The 
lovers  of  freedom,  who  are  to-day  paving  God's 
highways  to  the  Millennium,'  would  instead  be 
grappling  in  death  throes  with  the  Pharaohs,  the 
Nebuchadnezzars,  and  the  Alexanders  of  slave- 
tyrant  memory,  and  anarchy  such  as  the  world 
has  never  dreamed  of  would  reign  supreme. 

Nor  is  it  in  the  supreme  perspective  of  history 
alone  that  God  is  shaping  results ;  for  while  it  is 
chiefly  important  that  the  world  shall  eventuate 
as  He  has  planned,  it  is  certainly  a  second  con- 
sideration that  peoples  shall  be  thrown  succes- 
sively into  such  environment  as  to  free  them  from 
the  false  bias  of  a  previous  environment.  With 
such  a  principle  of  interpretation,  the  historical 
perspective  of  individual  nations  takes  on  a  new 
significance.  Space  will  permit  of  but  a  few  ex- 
amples illustrating  this  conception;  but  these,  I 
believe,  will  be  found  strictly  characteristic ;  that 
is  to  say,  similar  examples  can  be  found  in  the 
history  of  every  people. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  confusion  of  tongues  at 
the  Tower  of  Babel.  It  is  inconceivable  that  the 
reason  for  this  event  is  that  which  is  directly  in- 
ferrable on  the  face  of  the  divine  record.  The 
ultimate  purpose  of  so  scattering  mankind  must 
have  been  the  good  of  the  human  race.  And  one 
need  not  look  long  before  he  discover  that  good. 
Had  mankind  remained  one  homogeneous  whole, 


How  God  Rules  Nations         109 

the  very  weight  of  what  might  be  called  the 
psychic  dead  level  would  have  operated  to  pre- 
vent those  differentiations  of  character  and  soul- 
expression,  the  reaction  of  which  has  been  the 
source  of  the  evolution  of  society. 

Take  from  ancient  history  two  examples,  both 
resulting  from  this  scattering.  Let  the  first  be 
that  of  Greece.  Here,  bounded  by  insignificant 
geographical  limits,  was  incarnated  a  group  of 
spirits  so  allied  in  psychic  tendencies  that  they 
speedily  became  a  light  unto  the  world.  Acted 
upon  by  a  physical  environment  singularly  pro- 
pitious, and  freed  from  the  dullness  of  the  world's 
dead  level,  as  well  as  from  the  paralyzing  effect  of 
an  absolute  standard  of  art,  such  as  hampered 
their  neighbors,  the  Egyptians,  they  evolved  ideals 
in  literature,  painting,  and  sculpture,  from  which 
the  world  still  draws  inspiration.  Would  this 
have  been  possible  had  these  gifted  spirits  been 
distributed,  say,  throughout  the  humdrum  hordes 
of  China? 

The  converse  conception  is  equally  improbable. 
Take  a  similar  quota  of  spirits  segregated  by  divine 
justice  for  Chinese  nationality,  and  let  them  be 
born  successively  in  the  isles  of  Greece,  would  they 
have  produced  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  or  built  the 
Parthenon?  But,  says  the  objector,  suppose  they 
had  been  subjected  to  all  the  psychic  influences 
that  played  upon  the  Greeks,  would  it  not  have 
made  Greeks  of  them?  The  supposition  is  im- 
possible. These  psychic  influences  were  nothing 


no      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

else  than  the  spirit  of  the  Greeks  themselves  made 
visible.  Take  away  these  people  and  you  take 
away  their  whole  social  environment.  There 
would,  of  course,  have  remained  the  same  sun,  but 
think  you  it  would  have  been  conceived  as 
Phcebus  Apollo  driving  daily  across  heaven's  blue 
meadows  in  a  golden  chariot?  There  would  have 
remained  the  same  mountains,  but  would  they 
have  been  peopled  by  that  same  glorious  assem- 
blage of  gods  and  goddesses?  There  would  have 
been  the  same  groves  and  streams,  the  same  sun- 
lit waves  bathing  the  golden  shores ;  but  fancy 
a  group  of  Chinese  spirits  peopling  them  with 
nymphs  and  naiads,  sirens  and  tritons! 

The  conclusion  is  almost  inevitable  that  each 
segregated  group  of  spirits  expresses  in  earth-life 
primarily  what  they  are,  and  only  secondarily 
what  they  become;  and  since  what  is  good  and 
true  and  beautiful,  being  in  harmony  with  the 
universe,  has  a  tendency  to  live  and  spread ;  and 
what  is  intrinsically  evil,  to  die  and  be  stamped 
out,  such  groups  can,  by  national  momentum, 
benefit  the  world  to  a  degree  impossible  were 
their  virtues  applied  sporadically  over  vast  areas ; 
and  at  the  same  time  they  tend  to  do  least  harm 
to  the  general  evolution  of  righteousness,  since 
the  vices  and  sins  which  constitute  their  weakness 
breathe  out  their  ephemeral  life  for  the  most  part 
at  home. 

Take  next  the  Jewish  nation  as  another  con- 
spicuous example  illustrating  this  general  law. 


How  God  Rules  Nations         1 1 1 

Here  was  a  people  fitted  by  the  very  quintessence 
of  their  soul-bias  to  keep  alive  the  most  important 
truths  that  man  can  know,  the  nature  and  attri- 
butes of  the  one  true  God,  maker  of  heaven  and 
earth,  and  the  relationship  of  liberty  which  ought 
to  subsist  among  all  men.  How  could  these 
truths  have  been  upheld  until  they  have  all  but 
overthrown  idolatry  and  tyranny,  if  God  had  not 
segregated  for  a  single  nation  the  spirits  imbued 
with  them  during  pre-existence  ?  And,  note  you, 
when  this  ideal  had  been  fixed,  these  spirits  were 
again  scattered  among  the  nations,  unconscious 
missionaries,  carrying  with  them  their  innate  love 
of  the  one  true  God,  and  its  reciprocal  idea,  the 
love  of  man,  or  the  individual  liberty  ideal  that  is 
shaping  modern  institutions.  Thus  does  the  God 
of  heaven  seek  to  leaven  the  dull,  heavy,  cruel 
lump  of  humanity ;  thus  fulfil  His  promise  that  in 
Abraham  and  in  his  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  be  blessed. 

Take  now  two  modern  instances.  Do  you  think 
it  purely  accidental  that  the  Western  continent 
was  hidden  from  the  world  for  so  many  thousand 
years?  Or  that  when  discovered,  the  foremost 
peoples  to  seek  refuge  in  it  should  be  the  Pilgrims 
and  Quakers?  Was  it  accidental  that  such  a 
group  of  masterful  spirits  as  the  framers  of  our 
Declaration  of  Independence  were  born  in  the 
same  age  and  thrown  together  by  mutual  sym- 
pathies? Could  the  spirits  now  banded  together 
as  Tammany  Hall  have  conceived  and  launched 


ii2       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

this  glorious  nation,  this  new  "  Liberty  enlighten- 
ing the  world"? 

The  ideals  for  which  the  American  common- 
wealth stands  would  have  been  strangled  at  birth 
in  any  other  land  or  at  any  other  time  in  the 
world's  history.  And  when  mankind  shall  have 
the  same  reverence  for  the  Book  of  Mormon  that 
they  have  for  the  Bible,  it  will  be  recognized  not 
only  that  all  this  was  planned  by  the  Almighty, 
ere  Jacob  blessed  his  sons  or  Moses  smote  the 
rock  in  the  wilderness,  but  also  that  it  was  fore- 
told by  holy  prophets  over  two  thousand  years 
ago. 

The  last  example  I  shall  adduce  is  that  of  the 
Mormon  people  themselves.  Called  by  the  voice 
of  the  Spirit  "  two  of  a  family  and  one  of  a  city," 
and  led  and  driven  alternately  to  the  barren 
.wastes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  they  are  to-day 
holding  up  the  highest  standard  of  righteousness 
that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Judged  super- 
ficially they  may,  indeed,  seem  what  their  tra- 
ducers  call  them,  the  poor,  the  unlettered,  the 
despised  of  the  world;  for,  in  the  language  of 
Paul,  "not  many  wise  men,  after  the  flesh,  not 
many  mighty,  not  many  noble"  have  the  moral 
courage  to  accept  the  real  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 
As  in  the  days  of  Christ,  they  have  been  chosen 
from  the  ranks  of  the  fishermen,  the  farmers,  the 
artisans  of  the  world;  but  humble  as  they  are, 
they  are  raised  to  the  rank  of  true  manhood  and 
womanhood  by  a  virtue  which  you  that  read, 


How  God  Rules  Nations         113 

scholar  and  fine  gentleman  that  you  are,  per- 
chance may  not  possess — the  moral  courage  to 
forsake  houses  and  lands,  break  the  dearest  ties  of 
kindred,  face  the  obloquy  of  a  surprised  and  out- 
raged social  circle,  and  cast  in  your  lot  with  a 
people  counted  the  ''filth  and  offscourings  of  all 
things" — for  the  sake  of  an  ideal. 

Call  them  low-bred,  if  you  will, — ignorant,  un- 
couth, mistaken  zealots,  fanatics,  anything  that 
will  relieve  your  sense  of  propriety, — your  pitiful 
infatuation  for  sham  and  conventionality;  but 
dare  not  call  them  cowards.  For  animating  those 
ungraceful  figures  bent  with  toil;  guiding  the 
caresses  of  those  calloused  hands,  unfit  for  palette 
or  keyboard;  strangely  lighting  those  rugged 
countenances,  when  no  apparent  cause  is  visible, 
are  the  souls  of  heroes  and  heroines ;  not,  indeed, 
of  the  kind  that  do  and  dare  for  the  plaudits  of 
the  world;  but  of  the  kind  utterly  unconscious 
that  they  are  brave ;  fearing  only  the  eye  of  their 
Maker,  and  seeking  solace  of  Him  in  secret  places, 
with  tears  and  broken  sobs,  when  all  the  world 
spurns  them! 

Such  are  the  foundation  stones  that  Mormonism 
has  dug  from  the  mud  and  debris  'neath  the  feet 
of  the  gay  and  fashionable  world.  Such  have 
been  the  Elders  it  has  commissioned  in  the  past 
to  carry  its  message  back  to  their  fellows  in  bond- 
age. Little  wonder  that  they  avoided  the  great 
and  the  learned  and  labored  among  the  poor. 
But  now  their  sons  and  daughters  are  here.  These 


1 14      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

fear  no  comparison  even  by  the  world's  standards. 
Tall  and  straight  and  comely,  gifted  with  intellec- 
tual vigor  and  spiritual  insight,  they  are  among 
the  flower  of  Shem  reserved  for  this  last  conflict 
with  falsehood  and  artificiality.  Nor  do  they  lack 
the  courage  of  their  fathers  and  mothers.  At  this 
very  moment  two  thousand  such  young  men  are 
travelling  throughout  the  world  at  the  sacrifice 
of  their  own  hard-earned  means;  preaching  the 
message  of  the  new  dispensation  to  all  who  will 
listen;  and  finding  ineffable  joy  even  when  a 
stone  and  bed  of  leaves  by  the  wayside  serves  them 
for  rest,  and  the  infinite  starry  canopy  is  the  only 
roof  above  their  heads.  And  at  home  in  the 
valleys,  as  the  shades  of  night  deepen,  hundreds 
of  young  mothers  are  calling  flocks  of  rosy- 
cheeked  children  into  neat  but  unpretentious 
homes;  and  there  in  the  little  parlor  they  will 
kneel  together  and  pray  the  Father  that  papa  may 
be  protected  against  mobs  and  evil  designing  men. 
And  there  are  fifty  thousand  other  young  men 
ready  to  go  when  the  call  shall  come ;  and  as  many 
young  women  ready  to  do  their  part  in  keeping 
up  the  table,  rearing  their  children  to  fear  and  love 
the  Lord, — even  sewing  and  washing,  if  need  be, 
to  send  their  husbands  money  with  which  to  buy 
shoes.  Nor  is  this  fanaticism;  it  results  from  a 
dynamic  realization  of  that  reciprocal  and  indis- 
soluble ideal — love  of  God  and  love  of  man ;  it  is 
only  a  sane  and  rational  approach  toward  that 
altruism  which  shall  in  time  be  world-wide, — a 


How  God  Rules  Nations         115 

clear  sensing  of  the  law  that  he  who  would  lose  his 
life  shall  save  it,  he  who  would  save  his  life  shall 
lose  it.  And  though  the  results  measured  in  con- 
verts are  meagre  enough,  yet  measured  in  their  re- 
actions on  the  character  of  the  Latter-day  Saints 
as  a  people,  they  are  above  the  price  of  rubies. 

But  it  is  precisely  in  this  latter  respect — the  con- 
servation of  its  own  great  religious  ideals — that 
Mormonism  will  finally  become  a  * '  light  unto  the 
nations":  in  its  natural  growth  from  within;  in 
its  standard  of  equal  purity  for  both  sexes ;  in  its 
maintenance  of  the  inviolable  sacredness  of  the 
fountain  of  life — neither  curtailing  offspring,  nor, 
in  the  phrase  of  Paul,  "  changing  the  natural  use 
for  that  which  is  against  nature";  in  its  recru- 
descence of  the  Bible  ideal  that  "  Children  are  the 
heritage  of  the  Lord, — happy  is  the  man  that  hath 
his  quiver  full  of  them";  in  its  insistence  that 
every  man,  and  every  woman,  has  an  inalienable 
right  to  this  heritage;  in  its  belief  in  continuous 
revelation,  the  reciprocal  communication  between 
man  and  God,  as  between  personal  beings,— 
Father  and  child ;  in  short,  in  its  mergence  of  life 
with  religion  as  one  conception,  thereby  bridging 
the  gulf  between  profession  and  practice,  and 
doing  away  with  the  shams  and  pretenses  of  an 
artificial  holiness,  to  the  end  that  the  highest  func- 
tions of  religion  may  co-exist,  if  need  were,  with 
jumpers  and  overalls, — that  is,  with  any  necessary 
social  status. 

Such  then  is  the  very  heart  of  Mormonism  so 


n6       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

universally  vilified  and  traduced  among  men. 
Need  I  point  out  that  it,  too,  is  one  of  the  factors— 
a  very  important  one — with  which  God  is  shaping 
the  destiny  of  mankind?  In  this  respect,  there- 
fore, it  illustrates  the  general  law  that  God  segre- 
gates into  groups  the  spirits  to  be  born  on  earth, 
so  that  their  reactions  upon  each  other  shall  bring 
about  His  supreme  purposes  in  the  regeneration 
and  salvation  of  mankind. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

HOW  GOD  SHAPES  THE  DESTINY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL 

IN  the  two  previous  chapters  I  have  shown  re- 
spectively how  the  Lord  is  shaping  the  social 
destiny  of  the  world,  and  also  the  social  destinies 
of  peoples.  In  this  chapter  I  shall  attempt  to 
indicate  how  He  also  shapes  the  ends  of  individuals 
"rough  hew  them  how  we  will." 

If  the  thoughts  and  deeds  of  each  day  and  hour 
pass  immediate  judgment  on  our  souls,  adding  to 
or  taking  from  the  sum  total  of  our  power  in  the 
universe,  how  much  more  must  the  combined  re- 
sults of  pre-existence  fix  the  status  which  divine 
justice  assigns  to  us  in  this  new  world.  Being 
born,  therefore,  is  being  judged;  for  is  it  not  a 
second  opening  of  the  book  of  life  ?  There  will  be 
other  openings  in  the  hereafter,  wherein  the 
"deeds  done  in  the  body"  will  newly  classify  us, 
both  as  to  companionship  and  habitat;  but  the 
point  to  note  here  is ;  that  such  a  classification  has 
already  taken  place,  both  in  world-scope  and  in 
nation-scope  as  we  have  seen,  and  also  in  the 
scope  of  individuals,  as  I  hope  now  to  show. 
"Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me," 
117 


1 1 8       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

said  Jehovah,  and  followed  the  commandment  by 
what  has  always  been  regarded  as  a  divine  threat, 
in  case  of  disobedience,  viz.,  that  He  would 
"visit  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  upon  the  chil- 
dren unto  the  third  and  fourth  generations"  of 
them  that  hate  Him ;  which,  however,  is  no  threat 
at  all,  but  merely  a  statement  of  the  simple  work- 
ings of  eternal  justice. 

Consider  all  the  bearings  in  the  case.  There  is 
first  the  sin  of  idolatry, — the  most  grievous  of  all 
sins,  since  by  it  men  are  alienated  from  God,  and 
so  are  cut  off,  like  branches,  from  the  very  source 
of  that  spiritual  life  which  constitutes  the  essential 
bond  of  their  unity  with  the  universe.  A  thou- 
sand evils  follow  in  the  wake  of  him  who  has  thus 
strayed  into  darkness. 

In  the  next  place,  the  penalty  for  committing 
this  sin  must  manifestly  be  upon  them  that  com- 
mit it,  not  upon  unborn  generations.  What 
should  we  think  of  a  human  law  which  hanged  the 
grandson  because  his  father's  father  escaped  jus- 
tice? Somehow,  then,  this  is  the  penalty  for 
turning  away  from  God, — to  be  cursed  with  chil- 
dren of  like  proclivities.  We  are  not  yet  able  to 
see  clearly  in  what  way  eternal  bliss  is  bound  up 
with  the  salvation  of  our  posterity;  but  just  as 
the  supreme  punishment  brought  upon  himself  by 
Judas  was  not  so  much  his  death,  as  that  he  should 
have  no  seed — that  he  should  run  out,  as  it  were, 
like  a  stream  in  a  desert, — so  being  cursed  with 
Godless  children  is  next  to  being  cursed  like 


Individual  Destiny  119 

Judas ;  for  as  these  children  will,  like  the  parents, 
probably  not  repent,  and  will  therefore  be  lost  to 
the  generations  of  heaven,  it  is  equivalent,  from 
the  eternal  point  of  view,  to  having  no  seed 
whatever. 

Consider  next  the  aspect  of  the  children  to  be 
born.  Could  divine  justice  consign  to  the  par- 
ental care  of  idolaters,  spirits  who  had  learned  to 
love  the  Lord  their  God,  or  even  spirits  who  were 
neutral  on  this  foremost  attitude  of  the  soul ;  with 
the  certainty  that  such  souls  would  be  biased  dur- 
ing mortal  life  to  their  own  undoing?  Plainly 
not.  Justice  must  seek  out  spirits  deserving  of 
no  better  parentage;  spirits  perilously  near  the 
border-line  of  those  who  fought  against  God  and 
were  cast  out  of  heaven. 

Being  born  under  such  parents  would  be  no 
punishment  to  them, — merely  justice ;  but  it  is  a 
punishment  to  the  parents,  who,  knowing  God, 
and  having  made  covenants  with  him,  turn  away 
to  worship  idols, — of  wood  or  stone  in  the  days 
gone  by,  and  of  wealth  or  social  position,  or  what- 
ever else  in  modern  times  takes  the  place  of  old- 
world  idolatry. 

But  because  justice  consigns  such  spirits  to  god- 
less parents,  the  love  of  God  does  not  desert  them. 
It  is  ever  busy  contriving  environments  that  shall 
tend  to  save;  sickness,  sorrow,  reverses  in  for- 
tune, happiness,  and  prosperity,  or  the  terrible 
knocks  of  fate, — anything  either  positive  or  nega- 
tive that  shall  bring  them  face  to  face  with  the 


1 20      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

meaning  of  law,  and  from  the  teachings  of  law  to 
faith  in  the  Lawgiver.  That  is  evidently  the 
meaning  of  those  other  words,  in  the  same  divine 
fiat:  " Showing  mercy  to  thousands  that  love  me 
and  keep  my  commandments." 

The  immediate  generalization  to  be  drawn  from 
this  text  is  that  parents  will  draw  to  themselves 
the  kind  of  spirits  they  deserve, — the  kind  that 
their  own  psychic  qualities  shall  have  prepared 
the  way  for.  The  godless  will  perpetuate  their 
godlessness  in  their  offspring;  the  virtuous,  the 
pious,  the  loving  will  attract  like  souls  to  them- 
selves ;  and  this  law  may  be  extended  indefinitely. 

It  was  no  accident  that  Mozart  came  to  a  line  of 
ancestors  who  had  progressively  prepared  a  body 
for  him  with  a  musical  brain  and  an  exquisite 
nervous  organization.  Would  it  have  been  jus- 
tice to  consign  such  a  soul  into  the  darkness  of  a 
tuneless  mortal  abode — a  body  admirably  fitted 
perhaps  for  mounting  clods,  or  felling  trees,  or 
hauling  in  a  seine,  but  unable  to  respond  to  music 
more  complex  than  the  dinner  horn?  And  so  of 
the  great  poets,  the  great  scientists,  the  great  me- 
chanics, the  great  inventors,  the  great  statesmen. 
Obviously  divine  justice,  in  pronouncing  judgment 
upon  a  soul's  attainment  during  pre-existence, 
must  work  in  harmony  with,  not  in  opposition  to, 
the  law  of  physical  heredity.  The  new  environ- 
ment must  be  a  continuation  of  the  old,  in  so  far 
as  it  shall  conserve  and  accumulate  a  positive 
tendency.  And  justice  may  demand  a  similar 


Individual  Destiny  121 

sequence  for  negative  tendencies;  though  here, 
whatever  can  be  stripped  from  justice  by  love  and 
mercy  will  surely  be  done. 

While  this  may  be  counted  the  general  law,  it 
does  not  by  any  means  explain  the  whole  of  God's 
providences  for  the  evolution  of  the  individual. 
Take  that  curious  dilemma  put  by  the  disciples  of 
Christ:  "Master,  who  did  sin,  this  man  or  his 
parents,  that  he  was  born  blind?"  (John  ix.,  2). 
Two  possible  causes  for  blindness  are  mooted  in 
this  question.  The  first  has  reference  to  spiritual 
heredity.  If  blindness  came  because  of  the  man's 
sin,  it  could  have  been  no  other  than  a  sin  during 
pre-existence ;  a  neglect  to  develop  the  psychic 
sub-basis  of  vision,  or  an  abuse  of  this  psychic 
attribute  that  should  destroy  its  power  during 
mortal  life.  The  second  points  to  physical  here- 
dity. Parents  may  so  sin  as  to  transmit  an 
impaired  nervous  mechanism  of  sight.  In  our 
Saviour's  answer  a  third  possible  cause  presents 
itself:  " Neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor  his 
parents:  but  that  the  works  of  God  should  be 
made  manifest."  The  third  alternative  therefore 
is  that  the  man  was  blind  by  God's  providence. 

Before  developing  these  three  possibilities  in 
their  relations  to  the  phenomena  of  heredity,  let 
us  consider  the  nature  of  the  change  that  takes 
place  when  spirits  pass  from  their  first  to  their 
second  estate. 

The  prime  characteristic  is  manifestly  an  oc- 


122       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

elusion  of  memory;  not  a  complete  shutting  off, 
but  almost  so.  The  light  from  that  previous  life 
has  ceased  to  be  transparent,  but  still  flickers  in 
the  memory  of  most  men  in  a  very  subdued 
translucence,  hardly  above  opacity.  The  dim 
sense  of  familiarity  on  meeting  strangers,  or  hear- 
ing new  truths ;  the  vague  sensation  that  a  given 
situation  has  been  perceived  before, — constitute 
probably  the  lingering  echoes  of  our  first  estate. 
Says  the  poet : 

Yet  oft  times  a  secret  something, 
Whispered,  You're  a  stranger  here; 

And  I  felt  that  I  had  wandered 
From  a  more  exalted  sphere. 

In  the  history  of  psychology  are  well  authen- 
ticated cases  of  complete  loss  of  memory ;  accom- 
panied, however,  with  that  same  haunting  sense 
of  familiarity 'when  the  subjects  were  brought  into 
contact  with  previous  associations.  The  fact  of 
our  oblivion  to  pre-existence  is  therefore  no  evi- 
dence that  we  had  no  such  previous  life.  It 
argues  merely  a  deep  and  beneficent  purpose  on 
the  part  of  Him  who  is  shaping  our  destiny. 
What  that  purpose  is  in  part  we  may  guess  from 
a  consideration  of  the  cases  of  lapsed  memory 
above  mentioned.  In  order  to  reacquire  their 
lost  knowledge,  they  were  compelled  to  come  into 
contact  again  with  the  elements  of  that  know- 
ledge; often  with  a  decided  advantage  in  the 
matter  of  thoroughness.  Would  not  half  the 


Individual  Destiny  123 

human  race  be  benefited,  from  the  standpoint  of 
truth,  if  the  hazy  foundations  of  their  mentality 
were  entirely  erased,  and  they  were  obliged  to 
re-examine  fundamental  environment  with  more 
critical  accuracy?  So  we  may  believe  respecting 
the  pupils  of  heaven  advanced  to  this  middle 
school:  with  all  the  objects  of  pre-existent  en- 
vironment in  memory,  much  of  earth-life  would  be 
merely  guessed  at  from  its  inevitable  familiarity ; 
but  with  every  object  of  comparison  blotted  out 
of  mind,  the  charm  of  novelty  would  reinvest  it. 
A  deeper  reason,  however,  for  this  veil  of  oblivion 
is  associated  with  the  very  nature  of  repentance 
and  forgiveness,  and  will  be  discussed  later  on. 

How  this  veil  was  drawn  down  over  humanity, 
need  surely  not  disturb  us  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  hypnotist  can  induce  the  same  blank  in 
memory  for  a  limited  period  of  time.  But  certain 
facts  connected  with  it  will  be  pertinent  to  the 
discussion.  Take  the  case  of  our  Saviour.  Either 
he  was  an  exception  in  the  matter  of  being  ob- 
livious to  pre-existence,  or  else  the  veil  was 
withdrawn  on  that  memorable  night  preceding 
Calvary;  for  he  prayed  ''Father,  glorify  thou  me 
with  the  glory  I  had  with  thee,  before  the  world 
was." 

Again,  in  respect  of  Christ,  it  is  inconceivable 
that  He  who  attained  the  fullness  of  Godhood 
should  not  be  more  perfect  intellectually  than  any 
other  man  that  has  lived:  a  greater  statesman 
than  Moses,  a  sweeter  singer  than  David,  a 


124      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

profounder  philosopher  than  Plato,  a  sublimer 
poet  than  Shakespeare.  Where,  then,  were  these 
traits  of  mental  superiority?  All  hidden  by  the 
wisdom  of  God;  eclipsed  that  the  sun  of  His 
spiritual  righteousness  might  alone  shine  out  upon 
the  darkened  world. 

Whence  we  may  conclude  that  though  the  exer- 
cise of  a  sublime  gift  is  proof  that  such  a  gift  is  in 
the  soul,  yet  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  it  is  the 
only,  or  even  the  greatest,  gift  of  the  soul;  nor 
that  he  who  manifests  no  transcendent  gift  in 
mortal  life  has  none  in  respect  of  eternity.  For 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  all  spirits  are  in- 
nately more  glorious  than  they  appear  through 
the  imperfect  medium  of  earth-life;  and  that 
transcendent  gifts  are  often  hidden, — save  when 
they  are  needed  to  give  light  to  the  world, — in 
order  that  some  neglected,  mediocre  talent  may 
have  opportunity  to  grow. 

Let  no  man  therefore  sit  in  harsh  judgment  on 
his  fellow-man.  Of  positive  qualities  we  may 
safely  say,  They  are  his  because  he  earned  them, 
either  in  this  life  or  in  a  previous  life;  of  some 
negative  qualities  also  we  may  know  the  genesis, 
either  through  the  man's  sins  or  the  sins  of  his 
parents ;  and  that  this  man  is  born  blind,  that  one 
deaf  and  dumb,  the  third  one  stupid,  may  indeed 
be — probably  is — the  result  of  doing  or  failing  to 
do  in  pre-existence ;  but  it  may  also  be  a  dis- 
pensation of  God,  who,  foreseeing  the  effect  for 
evil  of  a  certain  attribute  of  the  soul,  mercifully 


Individual  Destiny  125 

veils  its  power  to  function  during  mortal  life.  "  If 
thy  right  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out  and  cast  it 
from  thee ;  for  it  is  profitable  for  thee  that  one  of 
thy  members  should  perish  and  not  that  thy  whole 
body  should  be  cast  into  hell." 

With  these  three-fold  antecedents,  spiritual 
heredity,  physical  heredity,  and  foreordination 
by  God,  we  shall  be  able  to  explain  phenomena 
which  are  inexplicable  by  the  data  on  which 
science  now  relies;  as,  for  instance,  the  wide  di- 
vergence in  character  and  aptitudes  of  children 
from  the  same  parents,  where  the  physical  ante- 
cedents are  practically  the  same;  and  the  marked 
diversity  in  gift  and  inclination  often  discernible  in 
twins,  whose  prenatal  environments  were  iden- 
tical. We  are  also  able  to  understand  those 
apparent  exceptions  to  all  laws  of  heredity:  a 
Moses  cradled  in  the  rushes  of  the  Nile ;  a  David, 
the  most  obscure  son  of  an  obscure  man;  a  Mo- 
hammed, camel-driver  in  the  great  caravans  of 
the  desert ;  a  Luther,  one  among  a  thousand  half - 
buried  monks ;  a  Shakespeare,  born  ostensibly  to 
comb  wool  and  manufacture  gloves;  a  Lincoln 
who  by  law  of  heredity  should  have  remained  a 
rail-splitter  and  tenth-rate  farmer;  a  Joseph 
Smith,  whose  life  opened  as  a  hired  hand  in  the 
backwoods  of  Vermont. 

All  these  men,  and  thousands  of  others  whose 
characters  have  been  epoch-making  either  in 
great  or  in  small  degree,  represent  spirits  the 
momentum  of  whose  pre-existent  lives  was  such 


i26      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

that  no  mortal  obstacles  could  stay  its  impact. 
Like  John  the  Baptist,  chosen  before  conception, 
and  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  from  his  birth 
(Luke,i.);  like  Jeremiah,  whom  God  foreknew 
and  ordained  a  prophet  unto  the  nations  before 
he  was  formed  in  the  womb  (Jeremiah  i.,  5) ;  like 
Christ,  supremest  of  God's  children,  yet  descend- 
ing below  the  meanest  in  the  lowliness  of  his  birth, 
— all  these  mighty  ones  were  foreordained  by  God 
to  the  missions  of  world-shaping  that  they  so 
nobly  fulfilled. 

Such  is  also  the  explanation  of  all  men  and  wo- 
men who  are  born  ahead  of  their  time ;  prophets 
and  seers  whose  voices,  tuned  to  a  higher,  sublimer 
melody,  ring  out  discordant  on  a  dull  contented 
world;  harbingers  of  truths  whose  transcendent 
beauty  only  blinds  and  infuriates  for  the  time 
being;  heralds  of  a  new  and  higher  civilization, 
whose  martyrs  they  willingly  become. 

And  this  thought  leads  to  another :  the  physical 
tabernacles  into  which  these  spirits  were  born 
were  perhaps  not  fitted,  or  but  poorly  fitted,  for 
the  lofty  functions  to  which  they  were  destined. 
What  then?  The  royal  tenants  remodelled  them 
to  their  own  purposes;  developed  new  brain 
cells;  broke  through  the  ancestral  tendency  to 
ossify  at  given  stages  of  life;  moulded  the  phy- 
sical vehicle  to  the  needs  of  the  dominant  intelli- 
gence. Whence  we  may  reach  the  general  con- 
clusion that  in  every  contest  to  decide  which 
shall  predominate  the  life,  the  physical  or  the 


Individual  Destiny  127 

spiritual  heredity,  it  is  always  in  the  power  of  the 
latter  to  conquer. 

Supremacy  lies,  I  repeat,  always  potential  in 
spiritual  heredity ; r  but,  alas,  how  rarely  does  it 
become  dynamic.  It  is  precisely  in  this  contest 
that  the  soul  has  need  of  a  teacher — some  ex- 
ternal companion  more  mature  in  the  wisdom  of 
experience,  who  shall  foresee  the  battles,  arouse 
the  sleeping  soul,  and  help  buckle  on  its  armor. 
Such  a  companion  every  man  can  be  to  his  fellow- 
man  ;  and  if  life  lays  upon  us  any  supreme  duty, 
it  is  this,  of  helping  each  generation  to  rise  above 
the  last.  Such  soul-guides  are  provided  naturally 
in  parents,  brothers  and  sisters,  preceptors  and 
teachers;  and,  indirectly,  it  is  for  this  end,  too, 
that  scientists  investigate,  mechanics  invent,  phi- 
losophers interpret,  and  poets  write.  All  these 
forces  may  be  reckoned  as  means  by  which  God  is 
shaping  the  destiny  of  the  individual. 

But  all  these  combined  would  of  themselves  go 
but  a  little  way  in  this  battle  between  what  Paul 
calls  the  flesh  and  the  spirit ;  for  the  reason  that 
they  are  too  general ;  they  form  rather  a  favorable 
setting  for  victory,  than  aids  toward  cocking  and 
priming  the  will  in  the  day  and  hour  that  the  in- 
dividual contests  come.  A  guide  and  monitor, 
such  as  the  last  exigency  would  require,  God  fur- 
nishes to  each  soul  in  the  form  of  a  guardian  angel. 

1  Of  the  positive  type,  which  type  alone  represents  power. 
Negative  spiritual  tendencies,  represent  merely  the  absence 
of  power. 


128      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Such  is  the  revelation  of  Scripture,  such  the  faith 
of  Latter-day  Saints. 

It  is  to  this  representative  of  the  Father  that  we 
owe  nine  tenths  of  those  adjustments  in  our  per- 
sonal or  individual  environment,  which  in  the  sum 
total  do  most  to  shape  our  lives;  His  is  the  " Still 
small  voice,"  which  admonishes  us  to  resist  temp- 
tation; His  the  soothing  companionship  which 
comforts  us  in  trial  and  tribulation.  And  yet 
even  in  this  the  most  direct  approach  that  the 
Father  of  lights  can  make  toward  influencing  us 
for  good,  we  can  and  do  constantly  resist;  for 
amidst  all  the  creatures  of  the  universe,  we — that 
is  to  say,  spiritual  beings — alone  are  free,  Nor  is 
that  freedom  alienable  even  by  God  himself ;  and 
therefore,  although  it  remains  true — to  repeat  that 
flash  of  insight  by  the  immortal  poet — that  "a 
destiny  shapes  our  ends  rough  hew  them  how  we 
will,"  yet  at  the  final  analysis,  we  are  saved  or 
damned  according  as  we  consent  to  or  resist  the 
shaping. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  SCIENTIFIC  ASPECT  OF  FAITH  IN  GOD 

IF  the  notion  expressed  in  the  phrase  " survival 
of  the  fittest"  represents  essentially  the  spirit 
of  evolution,  then  the  outcome  of  mankind,  as 
set  forth  in  the  three  preceding  chapters,  must 
show  that  the  conceptions  of  Mormonism  respect- 
ing sociological  evolution  are  in  line  with  the  fore- 
most scientific  thought  of  the  age;  not  only  in 
line,  but  leading  the  line,  since  its  generalizations 
are  wider  and  more  far-reaching  than  those  of  any 
other  hypotheses  that  have  yet  attempted  to 
correlate  and  unify  the  progress  of  the  race. 

Hitherto,  however,  we  have  traced  the  evolu- 
tion only  as  man  has  been,  for  the  most  part  at 
least,  unconsciously  acted  upon  by  the  environ- 
ment thrown  around  him  by  the  Creator;  in 
which  respect,  therefore,  the  history  of  his  modi- 
fication has  differed  from  that  of  the  non-psychic 
world — rocks,  trees,  and  animals — only  by  the 
single  factor  of  free-will  on  his  part ;  which,  though 
it  has  no  doubt  retarded  the  plans  of  the  infinite 
Evolutor — if  I  may  venture  to  coin  a  word — has 
not  otherwise  materially  modified  the  outcome  of 


130      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

those  plans.  As  was  inevitable,  the  futile  rage 
of  man's  opposition  during  the  ages  to  things  as 
they  are,  could  have  no  other  effect  than  the  re- 
tardation of  his  development,  and  collectively  the 
retardation  of  the  race ;  for  to  be  ignorant  of  law 
is  to  be  the  toy,  the  plaything,  the  drift-wood  of 
natural  forces ;  just  as  to  be  acquainted  with  law, 
to  live  in  harmony  with  law,  which  has  measurably 
characterized  the  race  in  later  times,  has  given 
him  power  and  consequence, — armed  him,  as 
it  were,  with  the  omnipotence  of  God  by  so 
much. 

But  the  unconscious  evolution  of  the  race  can- 
not go  on  forever;  a  time  comes  when  man  must 
consent  to  be  a  conscious  co-operator  with  God 
in  his  own  psychic  development ;  under  penalty, 
should  he  refuse,  of  cutting  short  his  eternal  pro- 
gress; in  other  words,  of  being  damned.  This 
is  the  irrefragable  scientific  truth  on  which  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  based.  For  what  is  that 
Gospel  but  the  definitely  prescribed  conditions 
under  which  man,  in  the  exercise  of  his  free  will, 
may  enter  into  covenant  with  God,  and  so  become 
a  co-worker  with  Jesus  Christ  in  the  perfecting  of 
his  own  soul?  Paul  defines  the  Gospel  as  the 
"  Power  of  God  unto  salvation."  In  the  terms  of 
scientific  thought  Paul's  words  would  mean:  the 
power  which  God  places  progressively  into  the 
hands  of  man  for  the  working  out  of  his  psychic 
evolution. 

On  making  such  a  compact  man  immediately 


Faith  is  Scientific  131 

changes  his  status  in  the  universe ;  for  whereas  he 
was  before  one  of  the  class  to  be  worked  with,  he 
passes  over  at  once  and  takes  rank  among  the 
"workers."  *  Here,  for  a  million  ages  perhaps, 
under  the  supervision  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  will  fill 
posts  of  duty  progressively  suited  to  his  growing 
powers;  until  by  doing  the  works  of  God  he 
eventually  attains  to  the  perfection  of  God.  Such 
a  change  of  status  evidently  underlies  John's 
words  (i.  12),  wherein  he  says:  "But  as  many  as 
received  him  (i.  e.,  made  covenant  with  God),  to 
them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  Sons  of  God," 
—"joint-heirs  with  Jesus  Christ,"  as  Paul  puts  it 
(Rom.  viii.,  17). 

But  are  not  men  and  women  already  chil- 
dren of  God  by  right  of  birth  in  heaven?  True 
enough;  but  they  are  not  children  of  the  cove- 
nant. They  have  not  accepted  the  relationship  of 

1  There  are  but  three  classes  of  intelligent  beings  in  the  uni- 
verse; the  workers,  the  worked- with,  and  the  damned.  The 
workers  represent  all  who,  by  their  own  free  will,  have  entered 
into  covenant  with  God.  The  worked-with  are  spirits  yet 
undetermined,  whom  divine  love  is  reaching  out  for.  Many 
of  them  are,  according  to  their  light,  workers  with  a  zeal  that 
ought  to  put  to  shame  the  more  slack  of  the  covenant  class; 
these  must  inevitably  enroll  themselves  with  the  workers  by 
definite  compact  when  they  shall  finally  learn  to  look  up  from 
law  to  the  Source  of  Law.  The  damned  are  spirits  who, 
having  become  irrevocable  enemies  of  both  workers  and 
worked-with, — enemies  in  fact  of  the  universe, — can  have  no 
further  evolution,  but  are  in  process  of  sinking  back  to  the 
state  whence  they  began  to  evolve.  The  terms  used  in  this 
classification  are  my  own,  and  do  not  necessarily  belong  to 
the  technical  terminology  of  Mormonism. 


132       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

subordination  to  the  Father  by  act  of  choice,  and 
no  one  can  be  enrolled  among  the  workers  who  is 
not  there  by  virtue  of  his  own  sovereign  will ;  for 
all  these  have  set  out  to  become  "perfect  as  their 
Father  in  heaven  is  perfect,"  and  the  foremost 
prerogative  of  that  perfection  is  absolute  freedom. 

All  men,  therefore,  if  they  would  be  "heirs  of 
God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ"  .must  enter  the 
Kingdom  by  solemn  covenant.  "We  believe," 
says  one  of  our  articles  of  faith,  "  that  all  men  may 
be  saved  by  obedience  to  the  laws  and  ordinances 
of  the  Gospel.  .  .  .  We  believe  these  laws 
and  ordinances  to  be  faith,  repentance,  baptism 
by  immersion  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  the 
laying  on  of  hands  for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
It  shall  be  my  purpose  now  to  consider  in  se- 
quence each  of  these  conditions  of  adoption  into 
the  commonwealth  of  heaven,  and  show  how 
simple  and  inevitable  they  are  in  the  nature  of 
thought  itself,  even  without  reference  to  the  fiat 
of  Jehovah. 

Faith,  the  most  obvious  and  universal  of  all  the 
operations  of  mind,  has  been  unnecessarily  ob- 
scured by  its  association  with  the  esoteric  rites  of 
religion,  and  by  the  profound  attempts  of  theo- 
logians to  explain  its  meaning.  Even  Paul's  defi- 
nition of  it  as  the  "  Substance  (assurance)  of  things 
hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen,"  while 
logically  true  enough,  is  not  unlike  Dr.  Johnson's 
famous  explication  of  the  word  network  as  "any- 
thing reticulated  or  decussated  at  equal  intervals 


Faith  is  Scientific  133 

with  interstices  between  the  intersections," — more 
difficult  to  comprehend  than  the  word  itself. 

Let  us  rather  get  at  the  vital  significance  of 
faith  by  noting  its  operation.  "Without  faith," 
says  Paul,  "it  is  impossible  to  please  God."  And 
then  he  proceeds  to  give  the  reasons,  which  are 
manifestly  self-evident:  "For  he  that  cometh  to 
God,  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  a 
rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him"  (Heb. 
xi.,  6).  The  reasoning  is  this:  It  is  pleasing  to 
God  to  have  his  children  "seek  Him,"  i.  e.,  enroll 
themselves  as  workers  in  the  Kingdom  of  heaven. 
But  they  will  not  take  the  first  step  toward  so 
pleasing  Him,  unless  they  feel  assured  of  two 
things  respecting  Him :  first  that  He  actually  exists 
and  second  that  He  will  reward  their  seeking. 
What  could  be  more  conclusive? 

It  follows  therefore  that  faith  in  God  must  be  the 
fundamental  principle  of  religion.  But  just  how 
absolutely  and  fundamentally  essential  it  is  to  the 
psychic  unity  of  mankind,  and  therefore  to  man's 
salvation,  does  not  appear  on  the  surface.  Most 
men  consequently  place  the  necessity  of  faith  in 
God  on  a  mere  personal  relation,  the  need  of 
placating  a  Being  supreme-by-will,  who  holds  in 
his  hands  the  threads  of  our  destiny  to  snap  in 
two  or  prolong  according  to  His  divine  pleasure. 
No  error  of  interpretation  could  be  more  egregious, 
nor  more  fatal  in  its  effect  upon  the  shaping  of  our 
lives. 

Consider,  by  way  of  analogy,  which  supreme 


134      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

fact  it  is  that  gives  order,  perspective,  and  ulti- 
mate relationship  to  all  the  diverse  facts  of  phy- 
sical science.  Let  me  enumerate,  from  where  I 
sit,  a  series  of  apparently  unrelated  phenomena, 
and  then  see  how  magically  they  fall  into  lines 
of  sequence,  when  I  shall  name  the  controlling 
source  of  unity;  that  snow  bank  near  the  summit 
of  Timpanogas,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  slowly 
melting ;  yonder  lightning-riven  tree ;  the  butter- 
fly above  me  matching  its  wings  with  the  sunlit 
maple  leaves ;  that  splendid  slide  of  shale  a  half- 
mile  long;  the  rotting  of  that  fallen  giant  of  the 
forest;  the  curling  steam  and  smoke  of  that 
laboring  locomotive;  that  charming  series  of 
waterfalls;  the  balsam-scented  air  that  wafts  its 
cadences  to  me; — and  so  of  ten  thousand  other 
objects  of  sensation.  To  the  ancients  they  were 
a  heterogeneous  mass  of  unrelated  things,  or  re- 
lated at  best  by  an  endless  series  of  gods,  goddesses, 
nymphs,  gnomes,  and  fairies,  and  to  a  later  day 
by  astrology,  necromancy,  magic,  what-not;  but 
to  us,  even  though  we  are  but  tyros  in  modern 
science,  one  supreme  fact  co-ordinates  and  sub- 
ordinates them  all — the  influence  of  the  sun. 
What  a  blessed  sense  of  peace  and  finality  has 
come  to  science  with  this  perception,  what  gigantic 
strides  in  material  civilization! 

A  similar  peace,  a  similar  unity,  a  similar  sense 
of  finality  will  bless  mankind  in  the  spiritual  and 
social  world,  when  they  shall  come  to  believe  alike 
that  "God  is,  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  them 


Faith  is  Scientific  135 

that  diligently  seek  him."  For,  though  the  ages 
of  mythology  and  idolatry  are  gone,  how  much 
nearer  are  we  to  a  unity  of  faith  in  the  God  of 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob?  Among  the  com- 
paratively few  who  profess  this  faith  there  is 
endless  variance,  and  the  rest  of  mankind  are 
either  reverently  agnostic  or  openly  atheistic. 

As  long  as  these  divisions  shall  remain,  as  long 
as  this  apathy  respecting  the  Source  of  our  psychic 
life  shall  benumb  mankind,  so  long  must  the 
dream  of  the  social  reformer  be  deferred,  so  long 
must  the  Millennium  remain  a  mirage.  For  race 
unity  will  depend  upon  something  deeper  than 
material  well-being,  however  much  the  long- 
delayed  equality  in  property  rights  may  con- 
tribute to  that  end :  the  point  where  soul  coalesces 
with  soul  is  spirit,  not  flesh ;  least  of  all,  then,  the 
trappings  of  flesh. 

Let  us  understand,  then,  once  for  all,  that  the 
reiterated  passages  in  Holy  Writ  which  enjoin 
faith  in  God  as  man's  first  duty,  are  not  made  in- 
sistent for  the  sake  of  God's  glorification,  but  pri- 
marily, if  not  solely,  for  man's  psychic  evolution ; 
for  God  is  the  Sun  of  the  psychic  world,  the  source 
of  its  life,  the  only  possible  bond  of  its  unity ;  and 
not  to  come  into  unity  with  God  is  to  be  at  vari- 
ance with  the  universe,  which  means  ultimately 
annihilation,  so  far  as  that  is  possible  to  man. 

Let  us  next  get  some  rational  conception  of  what 
faith  in  God  means.  To  believe  that  He  is,  im- 
plies vastly  more  than  the  passive  acceptance  of 


i36      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

the  dogma  respecting  His  divine  personality.  "  It 
is  a  fearful  thing,"  says  a  text  in  scripture  "  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  living  God."  If  this  be 
taken  literally,  that  is,  to  imply  merely  physical 
contact,  there  need  be  little  fear;  but  where  "the 
living  God"  is  understood  to  stand  for  law  and 
order,  whether  as  manifested  in  the  natural  world 
or  in  the  ministrations  of  divine  authority,  it  may 
well  come  home,  freighted  with  dread  and  terror, 
to  every  soul.  Faith  in  God  as  the  Mohammetan 
holds  it,  means  something;  as  the  Christian  holds 
it,  it  means  more,  including  as  it  does,  Jesus  Christ ; 
to  the  Mormon  it  means  still  more,  including  be- 
sides the  objects  of  the  Christian's  faith  the  last 
dispensation  of  His  will  to  man.  It  is  not  there- 
fore a  measureable  quantity;  to  one  man  it  may 
give  power  to  look  within  the  veil,  as  Joseph 
Smith  did ;  to  another,  it  may  give  only  the  first 
glimmerings  of  order  and  consistency  in  the  uni- 
verse. Certain  it  is  that,  in  this  wider  sense, 
faith  in  God  lies  at  the  very  basis  of  civilization ; 
for  what  is  civilization  but  the  sum  total  of  man's 
adjustments  in  accordance  with  his  interpreta- 
tions of  law ;  and  what  is  law  but  the  living  God — 
the  only  way  in  which  He  can  live  daily  and 
hourly  in  our  lives? 

Let  us  next  look  at  the  quality  of  faith  as 
variously  manifested  by  mankind.  Two  of  the 
most  important  types  occurred  in  the  ministry  of 
the  Saviour.  The  first  was  that  manifested  by 
Nathaniel  (John  i.,  45-51):  "Behold  an  Israelite 


Faith  is  Scientific  13? 

indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile!"  exclaimed  the 
Saviour  on  seeing  him  approach.— "Whence 
knowest  thou  me?"  asked  Nathaniel.  Jesus  an- 
swered that  He  had  seen  him  under  the  fig  tree 
before  Philip  called  him.  "Rabbi,"  exclaimed 
Nathaniel,  overcome  by  the  swiftness  of  his 
spiritual  intuitions,  "thou  art  the  Son  of  God; 
thou  art  the  King  of  Israel." 

Contrast  now  with  this  sudden,  unreasoning, 
overwhelming  conviction  of  Nathaniel,  the  slow, 
hesitating,  investigating  faith  of  Thomas.  Eleven 
of  the  apostles  had  seen  and  conversed  with  the 
Lord  after  His  resurrection,  but  their  combined 
testimony  did  not  affect  Thomas.  "Except  I 
shall  see  in  his  hands  the  prints  of  the  nails,  and 
put  my  finger  into  the  print  of  the  nails,  and 
thrust  my  hand  into  his  side,  I  will  not  believe." 
Eight  days  later  the  sceptic's  opportunity  came. 
"  Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  behold  my  hands," 
said  the  Saviour;  "  and  reach  hither  thy  hand  and 
thrust  it  into  my  side:  and  be  not  faithless  but 
believing."  Then,  and  only  then,  did  conviction 
reach  the  soul  of  Thomas,  so  that,  like  Nathaniel, 
he  also  exclaimed :  "  My  Lord  and  my  God ! " 

Note  now  our  Saviour's  comment  on  these  two 
types  of  faith:  "Thomas,  because  thou  hast  seen 
me,  thou  hast  believed:  blessed  are  they  that 
have  not  seen  and  yet  have  believed."  Nathan- 
iel's was  undoubtedly  the  superior,  but  both  were 
positive  forms  of  faith.  What  is  the  explanation 
of  their  differences?  The  first  type  is  intuitional. 


138      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Nathaniel  perceived  the  Kingship  of  Christ  by 
percisely  the  same  law  that  Christ  perceived  the 
guilelessness  of  Nathaniel.  It  was  a  perception 
not  dependent  upon  external  marks ;  it  was  rather 
a  flowing  out,  as  it  were,  and  commingling  of 
soul  with  soul.  But  Thomas's  soul  was  too  densely 
barred  by  its  fleshly  tabernacle  thus  to  flow  out 
and  meet  the  Saviour.  There  was  consequently 
no  alternative  but  that  Christ  must  flow  into  him ; 
and  that,  too,  by  the  only  channels  open  to  him, — 
the  physical  senses.  It  is  characteristic  of  the 
sturdy  integrity  of  the  man,  and  therefore  of  his 
worthiness  to  be  an  apostle,  that  he  did  not  feign 
a  belief  when  the  temptation  to  do  so  must  have 
been  overwhelming. 

Faith  of  the  quality  necessary  to  produce  con- 
viction may  be  generalized  as  the  native  suscep- 
tibility or  openness  of  the  soul  to  the  indwelling  of 
truthness  or  the  power  that  lights  up  and  drives 
away  the  lurking  shadows  of  doubt.  I  use  the 
word  truthness  rather  than  truth,  because  the 
latter  implies  light  accompanied  with  the  images 
that  emit  the  light;  whereas  the  former  implies 
pure  light, — light  abstracted  from  all  definite  re- 
lations. With  truthness  as  the  basis  of  your  con- 
viction you  can  give  no  reasons  other  than  so  it  is, 
and  it  cannot  be  otherwise.  Such  was  the  nature 
of  Nathaniel's  testimony.  He  could  not  have 
told  why  he  knew  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  save  only 
in  the  words  of  Peter  at  a  later  day,  that  God  had 
revealed  it  to  him.  Such  is  the  nature  of  every 


Faith  is  Scientific  139 

true  testimony  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  the  lighting  up 
of  our  souls  with  truthness,  the  indwelling  of  that 
infinite  Spirit  which  is  saturated  with  and  redolent 
of  the  mind  and  will  of  the  Father. 

On  the  other  hand,  where  the  basis  of  conviction 
is  a  definite  series  of  truth-relations,  as  was  the 
case  with  Thomas,  reasons  may  be  given  back  and 
forth  tending  more  or  less  to  modify  the  convic- 
tion. At  bottom,  however,  this  conviction  rests 
on  the  same  basis  as  the  .other ;  the  degree  of  as- 
surance, or  truthness  that  lights  up  the  soul;  for 
just  as  the  soul  may  be  gloriously  illumined  by 
the  inpouring  of  truthness  or  unconditioned  light 
through  the  spiritual  avenue  of  its  being,  so  it  may 
be  dimly  lighted  by  truthness,  the  abstraction  of 
truth  relations  shining  in  upon  it  through  the 
apertures  of  its  natural  plane  of  being. 

Faith,  truthness,  and  conviction  will  thus  be 
seen  to  be  a  series  of  interrelated  causes  and  effects. 
Faith  is  the  prehensile  power  of  the  soul — the 
power  by  which  it  reaches  out  and  coils  its  tendrils 
about  truth ;  or,  to  vary  the  figure,  it  is  the  soul's 
absorptive  power — the  power  by  virtue  of  which 
it  can  be  saturated  with  truth;  or,  to  return  to 
our  first  figure,  it  is  the  openness  or  susceptibility 
of  the  soul,  whereby  the  light  of  truth  can  pour  in 
and  illumine  its  inner  being.  In  either  way  of 
looking  at  it,  faith  results  in  truthness,  and  truth- 
ness  as  naturally  results  in  conviction. 

It  is  in  the  first,  or  immediate  effect  of 
faith,  that  all  the  phenomena  of  healing  lie;  for 


140      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

manifestly  to  the  extent  that  the  soul  is  lighted  up 
with  truthness,  to  that  extent  must  all  the  spectres 
flee ;  and  a  goodly  portion  of  the  spectres  lurking 
in  every  darkened  mind  are  the  ghosts  or  appari- 
tions of  physical  ailments — diseases  that  exist 
only  in  the  mind.1  But  even  in  real  diseases  or 
injuries — and  Christian  Science  will  scarcely  suc- 
ceed in  persuading  a  man  that  a  crushed  skull,  a 
broken  leg,  or  a  macerated  hand  is  an  illusion- 
faith  is  the  best  aid  to  nature  in  healing ;  for  to  the 
extent  that  truthness  shall  illumine  the  soul,  to 
that  extent  will  all  negative  tendencies — obstacles 
to  nature's  healing  power — be  in  abeyance.  Take 
the  case  of  the  man  with  a  bullet  hole  in  his 
breast.  Life  or  death  may  hang  entirely  on  his 
attitude  of  mind.  Let  him  shrink  and  cower  with 
fear  and  foreboding — in  other  words,  rally  round 
the  wound  all  the  hindrances  to  nature's  recupera- 
tive power, — and  he  will  probably  die.  But  let 
him  take  the  attitude:  "It  is  nothing.  Yes,  a 
hole  in  the  breast.  What  of  it  ?  I  '11  be  out  in  a 
week.  A  little  hole  like  that — not  worth  think- 
ing about.  I  '11  not  think  about  it.  I  'm  almost 

1  It  is  for  the  emphasizing  of  this  supreme  fact  that  Chris- 
tian Scientists  deserve  credit.  There  was  no  need,  however, 
to  propagate,  along  with  this  truth,  the  monstrous  error  that 
phenomena,  i.  e.,  the  world  and  all  things  in  it,  are  illusions 
of  our  senses.  For  manifestly  even  though  they  be  not 
what  crass  materialists  have  held  them  to  be, — even  though 
they  be  insubstantial, — they  are  surely  not  to  be  ignored  or 
despised.  The  very  fact  that  they  are,  is  evidence  that  God 
intended  them  to  react  on  us  to  the  development  of  eternal 
life. 


Faith  is  Scientific  141 

well  now.  It  simply  can't  get  me  down.  I  'm 
superior  to  it,  and  I  don't  yield."  Let  him  think 
those  things — let  him  keep  back  the  ghosts — and 
nature's  sole  business  is  to  close  up  the  wound — a 
trifling  matter.  He  will  probably  get  well. 

Nor  is  there  apparently  any  time  limit  for  the 
resurgence  of  nature's  elastic  forces,  provided  all 
weights  are  removed  by  faith.  From  the  ex- 
treme instances  in  the  ministry  of  Christ,  wherein 
leprosy  was  instantly  cleansed  and  a  withered 
hand  restored  to  its  normal  condition,  even  while 
the  man  held  it  out,  down  to  the  slow  recovery 
from  wasting  diseases,  healing  is  evidently  accel- 
erated or  retarded  according  as  the  faith  which 
assists  nature  is  dynamic — full  of  will  power,  or 
static — full  of  resignation.  "  Faith  without  works 
is  dead,"  says  the  apostle;  and  I  cannot  think  of 
a  more  hopeless  case  of  unburied  deadness  than 
the  goody-good  faith  which  gives  up,  and,  with  a 
limp  and  passive  leaning  on  the  Lord,  prays  and 
prays  and  prays,  but  makes  no  effort  of  will  to 
assist  the  natural  recuperative  powers.  How 
could  the  Lord  respond  to  such  contemptible  in- 
ertness !  What  would  the  product  be  worth  after 
it  is  healed  ?  The  grave  is  surely  the  proper  place 
for  a  living  thing  so  manifestly  dead. 

Reverting  to  the  two  types  of  faith,  I  may  re- 
mark that  mankind  divides  itself  naturally  into 
Nathaniels  and  Thomases ;  and  according  as  either 
type  predominates,  so  will  the  civilization  of  any 
epoch  be  spiritual  or  material.  The  faith  which 


142       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

questions  is  peculiarly  fitted  to  discover  truth  in 
the  natural  world ;  and  consequently  it  is  only  a 
just  tribute  to  say  that  our  present  unparalleled 
material  civilization  is  due  chiefly  to  those  sturdy 
but  cautious  seekers  after  truth,  the  doubting 
Thomases  of  science.  On  the  other  hand,  the  high 
ideals  which  tend  to  shape  our  social  life,  the  spirit 
which  breathes  from  art  and  literature,  the  faith 
in  God  and  the  hope  of  a  life  hereafter,  are  as  truly 
products  of  the  intuitional  type  of  faith. 

The  purpose  of  this  paragraph  is  to  point  out 
the  folly  of  either  type's  discrediting  the  other. 
Is  Darwin  to  be  damned  because  he  had  no  testi- 
mony that  Jesus  is  the  Christ?  What  folly  to 
think  that  God's  providence,  which  was  millions 
of  years  in  preparing  a  habitat  for  man's  earth- 
life,  has  no  other  place  than  this  needle  point  in 
the  cycle  of  being  to  influence  a  soul  toward  the 
true  spiritual  ideal !  On  the  other  hand,  shall  the 
man  of  science  sneer  at  him  who,  with  glowing 
countenance,  sings:  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth  ?  "  Because  his  soul  is  closed  and  barred  on 
the  spiritual  plane,  does  it  follow  that  no  other 
soul  can  commune  directly  with  God?  Let  us 
rather  strive  to  exemplify  in  our  lives  both  these 
types  of  faith;  exerting  the  fullest  and  most 
hesitating  caution,  when  the  truthness  or  soul- 
light  sought  can  come  only  as  an  abstraction  of 
truths  apprehended  through  the  physical  senses; 
and  on  the  other  hand  throwing  open  the  skylight 
of  our  souls  with  the  guileless  trust  of  a  child, 


Faith  is  Scientific  143 

when  we  would  seek  that  purer  source  of  truthness 
which  leaves  no  room  for  doubt  or  fear.  So  shall 
the  spiritual  world  illuminate  the  natural,  and  the 
natural  make  more  real  the  spiritual. 

Now,  while  faith  is  a  native  power  of  the  soul — • 
and  is  at  the  last  analysis  probably  very  closely 
allied  to  that  power  of  will  called  attention  in  psy- 
chology,— it  is  by  no  means  a  fixed  quantity.  It 
is  instantly  subject  to  modification  by  act  of  will. 
No  other  attribute  perhaps  is  susceptible  to  such 
swift  enlargement,  to  such  sudden  occlusion.  Let 
a  man  love  and  live  by  the  truthness  which  faith 
ushers  into  his  soul,  and  that  very  faith  of  truth- 
begetting  capacity  is  enormously  increased;  but 
let  him  prove  recreant  to  his  truth-ideals,  and 
presently  they  are  gone;  for  darkness  has  taken 
their  place — the  man  has  no  longer  faith  in  the 
things  he  believed  before. 

Nor  can  faith  remain  as  a  passive  attribute  of 
the  soul.  The  very  condition  of  its  existence  is 
work.  To  cease  striving  is  to  be  thrown  into  the 
limbos  of  doubt.  The  man  who  knows  to-day 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  may,  in  one  short  year, 
deny  that  he  ever  knew  it;  and  he  will  speak 
truly.  For  this  conviction  is  not  based  upon 
memory ;  it  is  the  result  of  a  stream  of  truthness, 
which  remains  constant  as  long  as  he  is  true  to  the 
obligations  it  involves.  When  he  ceases  to  strive, 
his  faith,  closing  in,  shuts  off  the  heavenly  con- 
sciousness, and  with  it  go  his  convictions.  There 
can  be  no  such  thing  as  holding  a  truth  in  our 


144      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

souls  and  at  the  same  time  shirking  its  correlative 
responsibility.  They  who  seem  to  do  it  may  be 
set  down  for  shams  and  hypocrites.  It  would  not 
be  a  truth,  that  is  to  say,  a  living,  vital  relation ; 
it  would  be  only  the  shell  or  the  echo  of  a  truth. 

And  this  thought  brings  me  to  the  last  topic  in 
my  theme, — the  nature  of  false  faith  or  super- 
stition. This  takes  many  forms,  but  they  are  all 
reducible  to  one  aspect — a  trust  in  personality,  or 
something  else  concrete,  rather  than  in  law.  Nor 
does  one  need  to  search  far  for  the  cause.  Super- 
stition has  its  source  in  spiritual  inertia;  or,  to 
put  my  thought  in  Anglo-Saxon,  in  soul  laziness. 
To  fill  the  mind  with  -truthness — the  essence  of 
law — requires  no  small  effort  of  the  will;  since 
truthness,  out  of  which  grows  the  mental  attitude, 
must  be  abstracted  and  generalized  from  many 
and  widely  divergent  truths.  Or  if  it  be  of  the 
intuitional  type,  it  requires  no  less  of  spiritual 
wrestling  with  the  Lord.  Consequently  the  man 
of  indolent  mind  finds  it  much  easier  to  base  his 
mental  attitude  on  that  of  another  than  to  go  to 
the  bottom  of  things  and  know  for  himself. 

Thus  it  is,  for  instance,  that  ten  thousand 
young  men  and  women  in  Zion  lazily  believe  Mor- 
monism is  true  because  their  parents  know  it  is 
true.  But  this  is  only  a  small  patch  in  the  wide- 
spread weakness  of  society  resulting  from  this 
bastard  form  of  faith.  Priestcraft  thrives  be- 
cause of  it;  saint  and  relic  worship  are  the  very 
embodiment  of  it.  Mobs  usurp  the  functions  of 


Faith  is  Scientific  145 

law,  because  their  lives  hold  no  abstract  truth 
ideals.  Corruption  thrives  in  public  office,  be- 
cause men's  faith  is  centred  in  bosses,  boodlers, 
and  grafters  rather  than  in  that  abstract  thing, 
the  will  of  the  people. 

But  the  subject  widens  in  whatever  direction 
one  looks.  What  was  it  but  this  makeshift  for 
true  faith  that  enabled  Satan  to  create  a  rebellion 
in  heaven?  What  but  the  same  subserviency  to 
personality  rather  than  to  law  that  characterized 
the  slave-tyrant  civilization  of  the  old  world? 
From  faith  in  persons,  it  is  but  one  step  downward 
to  fetichism,  or  faith  in  charms  and  amulets ;  and 
to  what  hordes  of  cringing  souls  in  the  shadows  of 
civilization,  as  well  as  in  the  fastnesses  of  bar- 
barism, does  not  this  aspect  of  faith  take  us  ? 

Faith  in  law  tends  to  unify  mankind,  since  law 
being  truth  is  universal  and  always  consistent 
with  itself;  but  faith  in  persons  or  fetiches  tends 
to  scatter  and  divide  mankind,  since  personal 
leadership  is  a  constantly  and  increasingly  vary- 
ing quantity.  Thus  all  the  inequalities,  all  the 
wrongs,  all  the  miseries  characterizing  the  social 
life  of  the  world,  spring  directly  or  indirectly  out 
of  that  interpretation  which  accepts  the  person— 
rather  the  authority  wielded  by  the  person — as 
the  basis  of  subordination  and  homage.  Even 
God  himself  is  made  no  exception;  but  here  no 
evil  results — save  as  the  tendency  becomes  con- 
firmed in  relation  to  lesser  authority — for  in  God 
personality  and  law  are  one  and  inseparable. 


146      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

True  faith  is  that  power  which  opens  the  soul  to 
truthness — a  quality  abstracted  and  generalized 
both  from  persons  and  /things ;  it  lies  at  the  basis 
of  every  advance  in  civilization,  and  is  the  true 
and  only  harbinger  of  the  Millennium. 


CHAPTER  XV 

TRUE  EDUCATION  AND  TRUE  REPENTANCE  IDEN- 
TICAL   OPERATIONS    OF   THE    MIND 

IT  remains  to  be  shown  in  a  more  definite  way 
how  the  closing  statement  in  the  last  chapter 
is  true.  As  a  preliminary,  let  me  call  attention  to 
two  parallel  utterances,  evidently  intended  to 
voice  the  same  general  truth.  "Except  ye  re- 
pent," says  Christ,  "ye  shall  all  likewise  perish." 
Here  is  no  equivocation.  If  His  words  are  true, 
they  are  applicable  to  all  mankind  alike.  Nor 
is  it  worth  while  to  temporize  with  the  word 
perish.  It  stands  for  the  grim  fact  of  damnation 
—our  ultimate  spiritual  undoing.  It  is  character- 
istic of  the  futility  of  dogmatic  preaching,  that  this 
awful  text  no  longer  arouses  fear  and  terror  in  the 
heart  of  the  average  listener.  The  reason  evi- 
dently is  that  he  cannot  actively  feel  its  truth. 

Nearly  two  thousand  years  later  in  the  world's 
history,  Joseph  Smith  was  led  to  utter  the  broad, 
unqualified  assertion:  "No  man  can  be  saved  in 
ignorance";  re-emphasizing  the  fact  in  the  ex- 
planation that  "man  is  saved  no  faster  than  he 
gains  intelligence."  This  attitude  is  apparently 

147 


148       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

more  cruel  and  relentless  than  that  of  our  Saviour ; 
especially  as  it  seems  to  exclude  from  salvation  a 
majority  of  those  whom  Christ's  dictum  includes ; 
for  is  it  not  the  lowly,  the  ignorant  (according  to 
the  world's  standard)  that  make  up,  for  the  most 
part,  the  hosts  of  the  repentant?  To  be  on  the 
way  to  salvation  by  Christ's  standard,  and  then 
to  be  side-tracked  to  damnation  by  the  standard 
of  Joseph  Smith,  seems  to  be  spiritual  confusion 
worse  confounded. 

To  reconcile  these  apparent  contradictions;  to 
show  that  each  standard  of  salvation  is  absolutely, 
irrevocably  true;  to  demonstrate  that  the  two 
expressions  are  identical  in  import, — being  in  fact 
only  different  points  of  view  in  relation  to  the 
same  great  truth, — shall  be  the  immediate  pur- 
pose of  this  chapter ;  whence,  indirectly,  it  will  be 
seen  also  that  "faith — the  power  which  opens  the 
soul  to  truthness — lies  at  the  basis  of  every  ad- 
vance in  civilization,  and  is  the  true  and  only 
harbinger  of  the  Millennium." 

Manifestly  our  first  business  is  with  the  con- 
cepts "ignorance"  and  "education."  By  the 
world's  rating  any  man  or  woman  would  be  igno- 
rant who  could  not  read  and  write;  conversely, 
any  man  or  woman  would  be  educated  who  could 
read  and  write  seven  languages.  But  neither  of 
these  ratings  might  be  just  from  God's  point  of 
view;  for  whereas  man  asks,  "Has  he  been  to 
school?  What  courses  did  he  complete?  Has  he 
a  degree? "  God  simply  asks,  "  How  has  he  made 


Education  is  Repentance         149 

use  of  the  world?  Does  he  recognize  and  obey 
law?  Is  his  life  daily  moulded  and  shaped  by  the 
harmonies  of  the  universe  that  touch  him  on 
all  sides?  Does  he  tend  to  become  perfect  by 
suffering?" 

We  are  sometimes  very  much  puffed  up  by 
those  artificial  contrivances  which  we  call  our 
schools  and  colleges.  What  are  they,  in  fact,  but 
children's  playhouses  rilled  with  toys,  when  com- 
pared with  God's  great  university,  the  world  it- 
self, with  its  magnificent  laboratories  in  sea  and 
sky,  in  forest  expanse  and  mountain  deeps? 
Society  will  continue  to  demand  scholarship  as 
the  badge  of  education  ;  life  demands  power. 
Men  will  still  ask,  "What  does  he  know?"  So- 
cial evolution  enquires  only,  "What  can  he 
do?" 

Note  the  fact  that  Joseph  Smith  said,  "Man  is 
saved  no  faster  than  he  gains  *  intelligence  V  By 
the  conceptions  of  Mormonism,  therefore,  man 
does  not  cease  to  be  ignorant  merely  by  acquiring 
knowledge;  he  becomes  educated  only  as  he  gets 
intelligence.  The  college-bred  man  may  or  may 
not  be  intelligent.  If  the  juices  of  life  have  been 
squeezed  out  of  him ;  if  his  heart-powers — his  love 
for  God  and  love  for  man — have  dried  and  with- 
ered in  the  arid  barrennesses  of  mere  intellectual- 
ity ;  if  when  he  gets  out  he  has  lost  the  power,  as 
well  as  the  inclination,  to  "catch  on";  if  he  is  a 
confirmed  bookworm,  stopping  only  to  contem- 
plate occasionally  the  evidence,  framed  on  the 


150      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

library  wall,  that  he  is  an  "educated  gentleman," 
— a  gentleman  of  leisure,  thank  God !  and  not  one 
of  the  base  proletariat  ants  that  are  crawling  every- 
where over  the  great  globe,  doing  the  menial  work 
of  the  race:  if  this  is  the  measure  of  the  man, 
you  may  call  him  anything  you  like — a  human 
exquisite — a  rare  exotic — worthy  a  golden  frame 
or  a  crystal  conservatory, — but  do  not  imply  that 
he  is  an  intelligent  being ;  for  intelligence  is  power, 
not  pride ;  character,  not  contempt  for  the  destiny- 
shapers  of  the  race.  How,  indeed,  does  this  non- 
descript with  a  college  degree  affect  the  welfare  of 
the  world  in  a  way  differently  from  that  of  a 
mummy?  Only  in  the  fact  that  it  eats,  drinks, 
and  otherwise  lives  upon  the  labor  of  beings  it 
despises. 

The  only  kind  of  education  which  squares  with 
the  ideals  of  Mormonism  is  that  which  trains  a 
man  to  do.  If  it  be  asked,  to  do  what,  the  an- 
swer is  to  do  the  things  that  need  to  be  done.  If  it  be 
further  asked,  who  shall  determine  "the  things 
needed  to  be  done,"  the  reply  is  that  as  respects 
the  lower  half  of  them  they  are  self-evident.  Man's 
first  duty  in  life  is  to  live,  hence  he  must  be  taught 
to  do  along  industrial  lines.  After  securing  a 
livelihood,  his  whole  duty  is  to  do  the  will  of  God. 
That  means  working  for  the  salvation  of  his  fellow- 
man  ;  for  there  is  only  one  way  by  which  a  man 
can  save  his  own  soul;  that  is  by  giving  it  for 
others.  But  this  does  not  imply  preaching  only; 
it  means  anything  that  needs  to  be  done  for  the 


Education  is  Repentance         151 

uplifting  of  the  race, — with  God  as  director  of 
what  shall  be  done.1 

True  education  is  therefore  training  a  man  to 
do  his  part  in  the  social  world;  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  false  education,  which  aims  to  polish  him 
in  certain  conventional  directions,  so  that  he  shall 
be  able  to  pass  muster  before  society  as  an  "edu- 
cated gentleman."  Nor  is  intellectuality,  though 
confessedly  the  basis  of  all  forms  of  power,  the 
crying  need  of  true  education.  Relatively,  in- 
deed, this  has  already  been  overdone.  Heart- 
power,  with  moral  and  spiritual  force  of  character ; 
the  power  that  shall  love  men  into  the  kingdom  of 
God;  the  power  pre-eminently  manifested  in  the 
life  of  Christ, — this  is  what  the  world  most  needs, 
and  what  the  schools  of  to-day  are  least  fitted  to 
give. 

Let  us  now  draw  the  lines  a  little  closer  between 
what  I  have  denominated  respectively  the  true 
and  the  false  education.  They  will  be  made  to 
stand  out  in  minute  and  detailed  contrast,  if  we 
trace  the  genesis  and  evolution  of  that  power 
of  the  soul  which  the  prophet  mentions  as 
intelligence. 

Manifestly  to  the  utterly  ignorant  being,  if  such 
a  state  were  possible,  all  things — objects,  forces, 
sensations — would  have  only  the  same  transitory 

1  How  this  ideal  is  working  out  in  the  educational  schemes 
of  the  Latter-day  Saints  cannot  be  discussed  in  the  limits 
of  this  volume.  It  is  reserved  for  a  companion  volume  to  be 
entitled,  Social  Aspect  of  Mormonism. 


i52      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

unrelated  significance  which  we  suppose  them  to 
have  for  the  ox  or  any  other  member  of  the  brute 
creation.  And  were  his  soul  fitted  with  no  other 
prehensile  power  than  theirs,  he  must  ever  remain 
in  a  state  of  ignorance.  But  he  has,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  native  power  of  gathering  truthness 
from  truths;  also  of  getting  truthness  by  direct 
inflow  from  the  Source  of  all  truths :  in  short,  he 
has  the  power  of  faith,  and  therefore  potentially 
the  power  of  intelligence. 

The  first  or  immediate  effect  of  the  exercise  of 
faith  is  to  know ;  in  other  words,  to  perceive  and 
feel  that  sense  of  consistency  or  harmony  which 
we  call  truth.  But  knowledge  is  only  half  of  in- 
telligence. To  stop  here  is  to  be  falsely  educated. 
If,  however,  the  truth  perceived  becomes  a 
dynamic  fact  in  a  man's  character ;  if  it  is  incor- 
porated into  his  mental  attitude,  and  reacts  im- 
mediately upon  his  life ;  if,  in  short,  it  ceases  to  be 
something  in  a  man,  and  becomes  the  man  him- 
self, changing  the  very  color  and  texture  of  his 
soul,  then  knowledge  has  passed  over  into  power — 
or  character — or  wisdom — or,  to  adopt  the  term 
used  by  Joseph  Smith,  has  passed  over  into  intelli- 
gence; and  it  is  such  a  process  alone  that  repre- 
sents true  education. 

Thus  are  the  two  types  of  education  put  into 
sharp  contrast :  the  false  type, — represented  alike 
by  your  college  bookworm  and  your  college 
tramp, — filling  the  mind  of  the  student  with 
truths  which  can  never  be  his  save  to  look  at,  and 


Education  is  Repentance         153 

therefore  so  shaping  his  life  as  to  make  it  resemble 
those  vines  which  crawl  in  moist  places  and  live 
by  contact  with  the  surface  of  things;  the  true 
type, — represented  by  the  creators  of  food  alike 
for  your  bookworm  and  your  tramp, — helping  the 
student  to  live  progressively  the  truths  he  learns, 
and  so  shaping  his  life  as  to  make  it  resemble,  by 
comparison,  the  sturdy  oak  or  majestic  pine- 
symbols  of  character — which,  gathering  life  by 
sunshine,  incorporate  it  into  strength  by  storm. 

The  two  types  might  be  classified  in  the  terms 
of  psychology  as  perceptives  and  apperceptives. 
The  soul-energies  of  the  first  class, — the  percep- 
tives,— have,  through  constant  abortions  of  sen- 
sation, come  to  spread  themselves  out  on  the 
surface  of  the  body :  lurking  like  insatiate  demons 
at  eye,  and  ear,  and  touch,  and  taste,  and  smell, 
and  appetite;  and  producing  nothing  but  in- 
creased desire  for  sensation  from  all  they  feed 
upon.  Nine  tenths  of  the  human  race  belong 
wholly  or  in  part  to  this  class:  the  novel,  the 
theatre,  the  excursion,  and  the  globe-trotting 
fiends;  the  whiskey,  the  tobacco,  the  horse- 
racing,  and  the  prize-fighting  fiends ;  the  roue,  the 
prostitute,  and  their  co-respondents, — sensation- 
mongers  all  to  whom  the  pleasures  of  life  mean 
surface  contact  with  phenomena  for  excitation  pur- 
poses alone.  The  second  type,  or  apperceptives, 
are  those  to  whom  surface  contact  or  percep- 
tion is  only  a  means  to  a  nobler  end — apper- 
ception. These  latter  incorporate  into  their  lives 


154      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

the  truths  perceived  through  the  senses,  and  so 
become  the  creators  and  moulders  of  civilization. 
The  schools  are  fated  by  reason  of  fad  and  con- 
ventionality to  turn  out  the  former  type:  God's 
school,  the  university  of  strenuous  effort  accom- 
panied with  suffering,  is  ideally  fitted  to  turn  out 
the  latter  type.  What,  indeed,  would  the  world 
come  to,  did  we  not  all  have  a  post-graduate 
course  in  this  divine  school  of  experience? 

Now,  before  bringing  these  ideas  relating  to 
education  into  juxtaposition  with  Joseph  Smith's 
standard  of  salvation,  let  us  stop  to  get  some 
rational  conception  of  what  salvation  means. 

No  notion  is  held  by  the  majority  of  mankind 
more  luminously  vague  than  this  professed  goal 
of  all  religious  effort.  From  the  rhapsodies  of 
revivalism  respecting  heaven,  the  city  celestial, 
pearly  gates,  golden  harps,  snowy  wings,  the 
beatific  vision,  the  loving  arms  of  Jesus,  and  so 
on,  ad  glorias  am,  the  thinker  can  only  turn  away 
with  a  feeling  of  metaphorical  nausea.  Let  us 
therefore  seize  upon  two  elements  latent  in  every 
conception  of  salvation,  viz.,  the  hope  of  eternal 
life,  and  the  hope  of  eternal  bliss,  and  see  what 
comes  of  them. 

As  to  the  first  idea,  eternal  life,  we  are  thrown 
at  once  face  to  face  with  our  ultimate  conception 
of  eternal  existence,  the  universe  itself.  Mani- 
festly anything  formed  and  limited  can  have  un- 
interrupted duration  only  on  condition  that  it 
offer  no  friction  to  the  universe;  that  is  to  say, 


Education  is  Repentance          155 

only  as  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  universe.  But 
the  universe  means  nothing  to  man  save  as  it 
touches  his  being  in  the  form  of  law,  or  rather  the 
effect  of  law — phenomena.  To  the  extent  there- 
fore that  his  life  is  at  variance  with  law,  to  that 
extent  is  he  in  danger  of  forfeiting  eternal  life; 
and  consequently  to  the  extent  that  he  values 
eternal  life,  will  he  seek  to  discover  and  put  him- 
self in  harmony  with  law.  But  the  differentiations 
involved  in  our  smaller  universe  are  the  creations 
of  God.  He  is  the  author  of  law  as  it  touches  us. 
Hence  eternal  life  in  an  organized  form  is  possible 
only  as  man  learns  and  obeys  His  will. 

No  man,  therefore,  can  be  saved  in  ignorance; 
for  what  is  ignorance  but  the  very  negative  of  law, 
the  state  antecedent  even  to  the  beginning  of  har- 
mony with  the  universe.  Unless  the  density  of 
chaos, — ignorance  as  personified  in  man — be  per- 
meated by  the  vibration  of  law;  unless  it  begins 
and  continues  to  respond,  how  can  it  remain  a 
formed  and  limited  creation  in  the  bosom  of  the 
uncreated?  The  forces  of  law  and  order  must  in- 
evitably undo, — scatter — annihilate  it,  reduce  it, 
to  the  primal,  the  formless,  or  uncreated  state. 

The  discovery,  therefore,  of  law  (or  truth), 
which  involves  the  exercise  of  faith  or  the  pre- 
hensile power  of  the  soul;  and  the  consequent 
obedience  to  law,  which  involves  the  exercise  of  an 
equally  native  power  of  the  soul  (assisted  by  the 
grace  of  God,  of  which  more  hereafter), — consti- 
tutes the  progressive  alternation  which  leads  from 


156      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

ignorance  to  salvation.  Nor  need  I  stop  to  point 
out  that  it  is  owing  to  precisely  such  a  series  of 
psychic  alternations  that  we  have  our  present 
civilization. 

But  salvation  involves  eternal  bliss  as  well  as 
eternal  life ;  and  if  we  may  judge  from  the  sensa- 
tions of  our  brief  earth  experience,  bliss  forms  no 
part  of  that  sensation  which  can  lead  to  satiety; 
that  is,  to  the  gratification  of  desire.  Pleasure, 
the  ephemeral  and  bastard  earth-cousin  of  joy, 
holds  this  place.  Bliss  (or  joy)  is  inseparable 
from  the  discovery  of  truth, — the  perception  of 
how  God  creates ;  or  the  evolution  of  truth, — the 
revelation  of  man's  own  power  to  create.  Eter- 
nal bliss  is  therefore  impossible  without  endless 
opportunity  for  invention ;  indeed  the  absence  of 
such  opportunity  could  imply  nothing  else  than 
monotony.  But  bliss  in  this  sense  is  inseparable 
from  power  to  do ;  and  power  to  do  is,  as  we  have 
seen,  an  invariable  accompaniment  of  the  growth 
of  intelligence.  It  follows,  then,  as  Joseph  Smith 
says:  "Man  is  saved  no  faster  than  he  gains 
intelligence." 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  correlative  idea  of  re- 
pentance. Before  a  man  can  repent  of  his  sins 
he  must  be  made  aware  of  them.  But  to  be  made 
aware  of  them  implies  that  a  higher  standard  of 
righteousness  has  entered  his  soul.  The  sequence 
then  in  the  sinner's  mind  is  this — first,  a  revela- 
tion of  the  righteousness  of  God ;  second,  a  com- 
parison of  his  own  life  therewith,  which  results  in 


Education  is  Repentance         157 

a  recognition  or  conviction  of  sin;  third, — and 
this  is  the  vital  part  of  repentance, — the  conform- 
ing of  his  life  to  the  new  standard.1 

Let  us  next  examine  this  phrase :  righteousness 
of  God.  The  suffix  ness  implies  "the  quality  of 
being";  so  also  does  the  suffix  ous.  Righteous- 
ness therefore  signifies  the  quality  of  being  right. 
Now  what  is  right  but  truth?  What  is  truth  but 
law?  What  is  law  but  an  expression  of  the  har- 
mony of  the  universe?  And  who  but  God  has 
shaped  our  universe  so  that  we  can  feel  the  har- 
monies of  law?  Righteousness  is  thus  the  will  of 
God. 

How  does  a  man  get  a  revelation  of  righteous- 
ness? By  faith — precisely  as  he  apprehends  law. 
Such  a  revelation  is  nothing  else  in  fact  than  the 
apprehending  of  law.  But  I  need  not  go  on. 
The  reader  has  already  perceived  that  the  process 
of  getting  rid  of  sin  and  the  process  of  getting  rid 

1  Some  one  has  cleverly  arranged  the  following  order  of 
sequence  in  repentance:  (i)  Recognition  of  sin.  (2)  Re- 
morse of  conscience.  (3)  Restitution  of  the  wrong  done. 
(4)  Resolution  to  sin  no  more.  (5)  Reformation  of  the  sin- 
ner's life.  It  should  have  six  R's  instead  of  five,  the  first 
being  recognition  of  righteousness.  The  second  fact,  which 
is  made  so  much  of  in  revivalism,  is  merely  a  fringe  or  incident 
of  repentance;  which,  while  it  usually  accompanies  convic- 
tion of  sin  in  the  social,  moral,  or  spiritual  world,  is  often 
absent  in  repentance  of  intellectual  sin,  (i.  e.,  mistakes  of 
judgment).  The  third  condition  is,  for  the  most  part,  im- 
possible; save  as  man  offers  to  God  a  broken  heart  and  a 
contrite  spirit.  The  fourth  is  implied  in  the  fifth.  So  that 
this  classification  may  be  boiled  down  to  the  three  essential 
facts  enumerated  in  the  text. 


158      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

of  ignorance  are  identical,  and  that  consequently 
it  is  no  more  possible  to  be  saved  without  repent- 
ance than  it  is  to  be  saved  in  ignorance.  Ed- 
ucation— of  the  kind  which  leads  to  intelligence 
—is  therefore  a  means,  if  not  the  only  means,  of 
salvation. 

Had  this  relationship  of  likeness  between  re- 
pentance, a  dogma  of  the  religious  world,  and 
the  acquirement  of  intelligence,  the  central  fact 
of  every  educational  system,  been  perceived  by 
ministers  in  the  days  of  St.  Augustine,  and  devel- 
oped progressively  as  the  world  advanced,  the 
clergy  might  have  been  at  the  head  of  all  move- 
ments— secular  and  otherwise — for  the  propa- 
gation of  truth  and  the  spread  of  civilization; 
instead  of  being  to-day  the  wardens — I  was  about 
to  say  the  curators — of  a  cult  more  narrow  and 
restricted  than  that  of  medicine,  and  less  useful 
to  the  race  by  how  much  its  dicta  lack  coherency 
and  definite  relationship  to  man's  psychic  needs. 

But  as  they  failed  to  perceive  this  supreme  fact, 
it  was  preposterous  on  their  part  to  expect  that 
the  momentum  of  progress  could  pause  to  be  har- 
nessed into  a  thousand  man-made  creeds:  that 
the  great  stream  of  truth  could  cease  plunging 
forward  down  the  ages,  because  some  of  its  inci- 
dental effects  took  shape  as  theological  eddies; 
going  round  and  round,  each  respectively  with  its 
fragmentary  flotsam  of  confessional,  proclaiming 
that  it  and  it  only  represented  the  trend  of  the 
universe.  God,  who  is  "in  all  things,  above  all 


Education  is  Repentance         159 

things,  below  all  things,  and  through  all  things, 
the  light  of  truth,"  could  not  be  restricted  in  His 
revelations  to  man  by  papal  bull  or  protestant 
heretic  fires ;  faith,  the  angel  with  the  key,  could 
not  delay  throwing  open  to  mankind  his  treasures 
of  truth  till  labelled  by  pope  and  ear-marked  by 
prelate;  repentance  swiftly  sloughed  his  scrip- 
tural name  rather  than  remain  exclusively  in  cell 
and  cloister,  or  even  linger  at  chapel  or  mourner's 
bench ;  and  eagerly  did  he  go  about  the  sceptical 
world,  doing  his  glorious  work  under  the  simple 
guise  of  educational  enthusiasm  and  integrity  to 
ideal. 

And  so  it  was  that  full  upon  the  track  of  these 
two  morning  stars  burst  civilization,  the  flood 
tide  of  God's  benediction  upon  the  world.  Salva- 
tion shall  need  no  other  heralds. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

LOGICAL   NECESSITY   OF  REPENTANCE   AND 
FORGIVENESS 

ETERNAL  life  shall  need  no  other  heralds," 
than  alertness  to  the  apprehension  of  truth 
and  integrity  to  the  ideals  so  apprehended;  for 
these  constitute  the  very  means  by  which  ignor- 
ance, which  is  only  another  name  for  sin,  gives  way 
progressively  to  intelligence  and  power.  But  ere 
eternal  life  shall  have  been  attained,  these  heralds 
will  have  assumed  again,  for  each  advancing  soul, 
their  proper  scriptural  names  of  faith  and  repent- 
ance. And  whenever  that  change  of  name  shall 
take  place,  with  it  will  come  to  each  seeker  after 
truth  a  strange,  new  emotion  thrilling  him  to  his 
soul's  centre. 

The  last  chapter  was  devoted  to  showing  that 
true  repentance  and  true  education  are  synony- 
mous, if  not  identical,  operations;  that  in  each 
case  alike  the  beginning  process  is  the  reaching 
out  of  the  soul's  prehensile  power  (faith)  after  a 
new  and  higher  ideal  of  truth  or  law ;  that  so  also, 
in  each  case  alike,  the  closing  process  is  the  con- 
forming of  the  life  to  the  new  ideal;  and  if,  be- 
tween the  beginning  and  the  closing,  repentance 

160 


Need  of  Repentance  161 

often  lingers  in  the  field  of  remorse,  while  education 
hastens  with  gladness  to  slough  the  old  life  for  the 
new,  the  sum  total  of  effect  on  the  soul  was  seen 
to  be  apparently  the  same. 

Apparently ;  for  it  did  not  seem  wise  to  obscure 
this  great  truth,  concerning  the  similarity  both 
in  genesis  and  effect  of  secular  and  religious  soul 
efforts,  by  distracting  reservations  and  conditions. 

The  need  of  showing  that  it  is  the  same  divine 
love  which  reaches  out  to  save  both  saint  and 
sinner,  must  be  my  apology  for  leaving  the  chapter 
as  I  did.  The  time  has  now  come,  however,  to 
show  that  the  ultimate  effects  of  the  two  opera- 
tions are  tremendously  different ;  that  repentance, 
while  it  includes  all  of  true  education,  involves 
much  besides. 

Observe,  first  of  all,  that  the  soul-regeneration 
which  comes  from  purely  educational  effort  is 
nearly  always  indirect.  That  the  learner  is  con- 
forming to  law,  and  therefore  reaping  power  as  a 
reward, — power  the  use  of  which  he  is  responsible 
for  to  God, — is  rarely  recognized.  It  is  rather 
some  material  motive  that  spurs  him  on;  as,  "  If  I 
attain  to  this  qualification  (say,  bookkeeping),  I 
shall  be  able  to  grasp  that  good, "  (say,  a  liberal 
salary).  Thus  too  often  an  utterly  selfish  object 
is  coupled  with  noble  endeavor  for  power ;  with  the 
result,  that  the  power  attained,  while  it  adds  to 
the  sum  total  of  efficiency  in  the  material  world 
cannot  fail  to  react  in  a  negative  way  upon  the 
moral  world ;  leading  among  other  evil  tendencies, 


1 62      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

to  the  cruel  maxims  of  business  which,  summed 
up  and  generalized,  constitute  none  other  than 
that  death-grip  law  of  the  ancient  world:  " Might 
makes  right." 

Against  such  reactionary  tendencies  as  by- 
products of  education,  ethics,  the  religion  without 
a  God,  is  making  a  noble  struggle,  and  not  without 
visible  results ;  for  gradually  mankind  are  begin- 
ning to  see  that  every  man  is  his  brother's  keeper ; 
that  to  follow  Cain  in  defiance  of  this  law,  is 
finally  to  be  self -destructive ;  that  injustice  does 
not  pay  even  as  a  business  investment.  And  so 
from  a  thousand  actions  and  reactions  resulting 
from  positive  powers  used  in  negative  directions, 
there  comes  out  of  widespread  social  wrong,  and 
pain,  and  suffering,  a  small  increment  of  social 
right ;  which  constitutes  that  fragment  of  the  salt 
of  civilization  which  has  not  lost  the  savor  of  God. 

It  is  perhaps  in  this  very  circumstance,  the 
failure  to  recognize  the  inevitableness  of  law  in  our 
educational  efforts — the  placing  of  motive  in  ma- 
terial rewards,  such  as  riches,  position,  power, 
fame, — that  all  the  mischief  of  misdirected  power 
is  wrought.  If  men  were  content  to  let  virtue  be 
its  own  reward;  if  after  having  climbed  some 
summit  of  eternal  truth,  they  should  regard  the 
increased  power  to  climb  as  part  of  the  reward, 
and  the  increased  magnificence,  almost  the  trans- 
formation, of  all  things  from  this  new  point  of 
view,  as  the  rest  of  the  reward ;  instead  of  being 
blind  to  all  this,  and  only  stopping  to  ask,  "  What 


Need  of  Repentance  163 

do  they  think  of  me  below?"  or  perhaps  taking 
advantage  of  their  position,  figuratively  to  roll 
rocks  down  on  the  heads  of  the  more  humble 
climbers, — if  in  short,  men  would  recognize  law 
as  the  criterion  of  their  efforts,  both  for  motive  and 
reward,  then  the  fruits  of  education,  would  not  be 
so  very  far  behind  the  fruits  of  repentance  in  sav- 
ing power ;  for  whereas  in  repentance  God  Himself 
is  the  unifying,  directing  force  of  character,  in 
education  with  such  a  motive  and  such  a  reward 
law,  or  God  indirect,  would  be  the  co-ordinating 
and  subordinating  power. 

But  rarely  does  educational  effort  attain  to  so 
high  a  motive,  even  in  theory;  which  fact  leads 
me  to  point  out  finally  that  the  one  aspect  in 
which  the  results  of  repentance  transcend  the 
results  of  education  is  precisely  this :  that  repent- 
ance takes  a  man  out  of  the  class  fated  to  follow 
desultory  motives,  and  brings  him  home  to  God; 
placing  him  among  the  workers,  and  giving  his 
life  an  eternal  perspective  both  in  being  and 
doing. 

On  the  other  side  what,  indeed,  are  the  highest 
achievements  of  secular  educational  efforts,  but 
the  more  or  less  feeble  response  of  the  race  to  the 
environments  which  God  places  around  them? 
And  as  God's  purpose  in  these  environments  is  to 
induce  men,  of  their  own  free  will,  to  leave  the 
worked- with  class  and  join  the  workers,  so  we  see 
that  the  two  operations,  education  and  repentance, 
though  alike  in  method,  are  related  to  each  other 


164      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

by  subordination ;  for  by  the  highest  good  of  the 
one,  the  perception  of  law,  a  man  may  achieve 
only  the  lowest  good  of  the  other,  the  perception 
of  the  Author  of  law.1.  Thus  the  two  merge  into 
each  other  as  dawning  into  perfect  day. 

Repentance,  as  here  used  in  contrast  with  edu- 
cation, besides  being  both  a  perception  of  truth 
and  a  conforming  of  our  life  thereto,  involves  a 
deeply  personal  encounter  with  the  Author  of  our 
being.  We  are,  in  fact,  prodigals,  awakening  at 
last  to  realize  how  far  we  have  strayed  from  home, 
and  how  we  have  wasted  our  opportunities. 
Something  in  our  souls  whispers  at  the  same  time 
how  good  is  our  Father  in  heaven ;  how  watchful, 
how  loving,  how  forgiving  He  has  been;  with 
what  tenderness  and  sorrow  His  pure  eyes  have 
followed  our  downward  course ;  and  how  His  heart 
has  yearned  to  call  us  home. 

It  is  an  awakening  like  this  that  breaks  up  the 
ice-floes  in  the  deeps  of  our  bosoms,  and  causes  our 
hearts  to  overflow  in  sobs  and  tears.  We  see  our- 
selves as  God  sees  us,  and  are  utterly  abased.  The 
agony  piercing  our  souls  in  that  moment  of  self- 
recognition  cannot  be  described.  How  dare  we 
call  ourselves  His  children — we  that  are  not 
worthy  of  the  husks  cast  out  to  the  swine!  Oh, 
if  we  were  but  clean  enough  to  call  on  His  holy 

1  If  indeed  he  can  do  that,  which  is  doubtful;  for,  as  the 
Scriptures  say,  no  man  can  find  out  God.  What  he  does  get 
from  the  intelligent  reaction  of  the  world,  is  probably  the 
earnest  desire  to  find  God;  whence  God,  who  always  meets 
faith  more  than  half  way,  reveals  Himself. 


Need  of  Repentance  165 

name, — we  whose  lips  would  profane  the  word! 
If — but  there  is  language  no  more.  We  have 
entered  our  Gethsemane,  to  learn  the  meaning  of 
a  broken  heart  and  a  contrite  spirit. 

Now  for  the  first  time  does  the  life  of  Jesus  the 
sinless  One  stand  out  for  us,  the  "man  of  sorrows 
and  acquainted  with  grief," — our  brother!  How 
we  pity  His  sufferings,  how  we  love  Him!  For 
did  He  not  die  that  such  as  we  might  live  ?  Then 
we  remember  that  He  said :  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye 
that  are  heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
He,  the  man  of  sorrows,  said  it, — and  Himself  had 
pity  for  the  weak  and  fallen.  Our  tears  flow 
warmer — the  black  cloud  is  breaking.  This  new- 
found Friend  will  not  turn  away  from  us;  and 
through  Him  our  Father  in  heaven  may  receive 
us  again. 

And  so  eventually  after  days,  and  sometimes 
weeks,  of  soul-suffering,  hope  reigns  in  our  hearts 
and  joy  ineffable. 

Now,  it  is  folly  for  the  sceptic  to  pooh-pooh  this 
experience  as  a  mere  neurotic  state  of  the  soul; 
for  its  recurrence  in  this  or  similar  forms  is  so  fre- 
quent among  mankind  that  we  are  justified  in 
considering  it  thoroughly  characteristic  and  nor- 
mal. Not  that  all  must  enter  the  kingdom  of 
God  through  this  dark  gate, — for  there  are  souls 
which,  Nathaniel-like,  have  never  strayed  be- 
yond the  light  of  that  kingdom;  only  those  in 
whom  selfishness  has  encrusted  the  soul  and  con- 
gealed the  heart.  To  these,  which  constitute  a 


166       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

very  large  majority  of  earth-spirits,  what  else  but 
a  violent  tearing  asunder  of  intrenched  soul- 
habits,  could  be  counted  normal,  in  a  movement 
involving  a  complete  counter  attitude  in  relation 
to  God  and  the  universe? 

And  if  in  the  act  of  reconciliation  with  God, — 
the  act  by  which  man  becomes  a  conscious  co- 
worker  with  Christ,  and  without  which  his  further 
psychic  evolution  is  impossible:  if,  I  repeat,  in 
this  necessary  awakening,  such  soul-tragedies  are 
not  only  normal  but  inevitable,  then  Christ  as 
mediator  and  way  of  escape  for  such  souls,  is  also 
a  normal  and  inevitable  expedient  of  divine 
mercy. 

I  do  not  attempt  to  explain  here  the  esoteric 
doctrine  that  the  equilibrium  of  heaven's  perfect 
law  having  been  broken  by  the  fall  of  Adam,  it 
could  be  restored  only  by  the  sacrifice  of  Christ. 
What,  indeed,  can  man  know  concerning  the 
necessity,  looked  at  from  heaven's  point  of  view, 
of  this  awful  tragedy?  How  presume  to  say 
whether  it  was  eternal  justice  or  earth-necessitated 
expediency  that  led  to  its  divine  predestination? 
That  in  some  inscrutable  way  Christ's  death  was 
vital  to  the  efficacy  of  the  atonement,  and  recon- 
ciliation of  man  with  God,  we  may  well  believe 
who  have  faith  in  the  revelations  of  Scripture; 
for  not  only  is  He  there  prefigured  as  a  "lamb 
slain  from  the  foundations  of  the  earth," — an 
event  also  prophetically  symbolized  by  all  the 
sacrifices  of  the  Mosaic  covenant, — but  the  whole 


Need  of  Repentance  167 

burden  of  the  Gospel  dispensation  as  recorded  in 
the  New  Testament,  turns  upon  the  atonement  so 
wrought  out  by  His  blood.  Moreover,  the  sacri- 
fices characteristic  of  all  heathen  religions  from 
the  beginning  of  time,  become  meaningless  also  if 
we  deny  the  necessity  and  significance  of  the  one 
great  Sacrifice. 

But  while  we  cannot  look  from  God's  point  of 
view  at  this  pivotal  event — and  therefore  it  be- 
comes us  rather  to  hold  the  fact  reverently  than 
attempt  futile  explanations — we  are  not  without 
a  philosophical  basis  when  we  look  at  it  from 
man's  point  of  view.  Should  our  faith  in  the  atone- 
ment need  bolstering,  a  sufficient  rational  explana- 
tion of  Christ's  passion  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  it  needed  among  us  a  Being  whose  life  and 
death  should  be  such  as  to  break  through  the 
stoniest  heart  in  man  down  to  the  imprisoned  love 
of  God,  even  as  Moses  reached  the  water  'neath  the 
Rock  of  Horeb. 

How  without  Christ's  life  should  we  have  known 
that  God  is  a  personal  being,  directly  related  to 
man  as  a  divine  Father?  How  without  the  vol- 
untary sacrifice  of  His  life  should  we  have  had 
an  object  lesson  sufficiently  striking  to  rescue  us 
from  the  fatality  of  self-seeking  and  teach  us  love 
of  God  and  love  of  man  ?  For  that  He,  the  sinless 
One,  who  need  not  die,  should  willingly  drain  this 
bitter  cup  to  demonstrate  His  love  for  man — what 
else  than  this  could  give  birth  to  universal  altru- 
ism? How  without  His  resurrection  should  our 


1 68      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

faith  in  a  hereafter  have  leaped  that  awful,  that 
terrifying  mystery — Death?  How  without  his 
own  attainment  to  the  fulness  of  Godhood,  dare 
man  look  forward  to  a  psychic  evolution  involving 
nothing  less  than  becoming  "  perfect  as  our  Father 
in  heaven  is  perfect?"  Truly  does  the  beloved 
apostle  exclaim :  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he 
gave  his  only  begotten  son,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life." 

Theosophists  maintain  that  there  was  no  need 
for  Christ  to  die.  Truly  not — for  their  Christ, 
one  of  the  Mahatmas,  a  diluted  Buddha,  not  quite 
so  far  along  toward  the  annihilation  of  Nirvana. 
But  Christ  the  Saviour,  the  regenerator  of  the 
heart,  not  the  mystifier  of  the  head, — picture  Him 
growing  old  and  prosperous  and  famous  and  gray 
and  decrepit,  with  bulletins  posted  every  hour  as 
to  the  last  flickerings  of  His  life :  picture  such  a 
man,  and  ask  yourself  if  a  life  and  death  so  peace- 
ful, so  ordinary,  could  stir  the  heart-strings  of 
millions  yet  unborn?  Indeed,  bring  together 
from  all  the  great  teachers  known  to  man  ideal 
fragments  of  a  life ;  and  after  you  have  combined 
them,  how  insignificant  in  spiritual  dynamic 
power  the  whole  would  be,  compared  with  the 
virile  divinity  stamped  on  even  the  smallest  de- 
tails in  the  earth-mission  of  the  Messiah ! 

So  much  for  His  life  as  a  regenerative  object- 
lesson  to  His  less  perfect  brethren  and  sisters. 
But  it  is  not  owing  immediately  to  this  fact  that 


Need  of  Repentance  169 

His  status  with  reference  to  man  as  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  lords,  is  fixed  for  eternity.  It  is  the 
more  substantial  fact,  that  upon  Him  rests  by 
delegation  of  the  Father  the  fulness  of  divine  Au- 
thority. Divine  law,  which  can  no  more  execute 
itself  than  can  human  law,  has  made  Him  its 
executor.  He  is  the  harmony  of  the  universe 
concreted  for  man.  Without  Him  there  is  no  ap- 
proaching the  Father,  and  consequently  no  salva- 
tion. In  Him  is  the  fulness  of  Priesthood  or 
divine  governing  power,  which  therefore  amounts 
to  Godhood. 

And  this  brings  us  back  to  a  further  considera- 
tion of  the  phenomena  of  repentance.  All  this 
display  of  emotion,  this  penance  in  the  valley  of 
remorse,  and  the  final  emergence  therefrom  with 
elastic  step  and  glowing  countenance — this  is  not 
the  real  fact  of  repentance ;  it  is  only  the  smoke 
and  fire  and  noise  of  the  conflict.  The  real  fact 
lies  precisely  in  this :  that  the  soul  has  had  a  rev- 
elation of  a  new  and  supreme  truth — a  revelation 
of  God.  It  has  perceived  that  in  Him,  a  personal 
being,  inheres  the  authority  of  the  universe.  He 
is  the  adequate  Cause  of  all  things,  and  therefore 
the  absolute  and  final  Source  of  power:  without 
Him  is  nothing  but  "  utter  darkness  and  the 
gnashing  of  teeth" — annihilation.  If  this  vision 
has  borne  fruits — that  is  to  say,  if  the  repentance 
is  genuine, — the  soul  will  have  taken  the  second 
step:  it  will  absolutely  have  conformed  its  own 
attitude  to  this  newly-perceived  and  supreme 


1 7°      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

fact ;  will  have  learned  to  say,  from  the  depths  of 
its  being:  "  Father,  thy  will  be  done." 

Now  the  soul  that  has  thus  repented — howso- 
ever contradictory  it  may  seem — is  absolved  by 
the  very  fact  of  its  repentance.  It  has  complied 
with  the  law,  and  must  therefore  inevitably  secure 
the  reward.  No  power,  not  even  God  Himself,  can 
rob  it  of  the  security  of  its  newly-won  relationship 
to  the  universe.  It  is  inevitable  in  the  nature  of 
things  that  obedience  to  law  carries  with  it  absolu- 
tion from  former  opposition  to  law.  And  this 
equilibrium  is  instant :  we  need  fear  no  locked-up 
vengeance  to  be  sprung  upon  us — no  reprisals  to 
satisfy  an  offended  God. 

Why  then  should  the  soul  feel  remorse,  as  we 
have  seen  that  it  does  ?  Why  should  it  yearn  for 
forgiveness,  as  if  the  new  status  did  not,  after 
all,  depend  upon  law,  but  upon  divine  caprice? 
Why  is  the  soul  not  at  rest,  till  assured  of  recon- 
ciliation with  God?  Why  not  be  content  in  the 
conviction  that  in  the  very  nature  of  things 
its  repentance  alone  has  absolved  it  ? 

This  feeling  of  insecurity  results  from  man's  dual 
relationship  to  Deity;  first,  his  relationship  to 
God,  which  is  essentially  his  relationship  to  God- 
hood,  or  the  absolute  power  of  the  universe.  This 
is  purely  an  abstract,  that  is  to  say,  a  truth  rela- 
tion ;  to  the  extent  that  it  has  a  concrete  aspect  at 
all,  it  is  the  relationship  of  a  nascent  or  growing 
intelligence  to  a  perfected  Intelligence,  and  its 
only  expression  is  therefore  justice-  -the  Karma 


Need  of  Repentance  171 

of  the  Buddhists  and  the  nemesis  of  the  Greeks. 
Accordingly  as  the  soul  has  conformed  to  law,  so 
it  is  forgiven, — that  is,  absolved  from  all  retro- 
active effects  of  its  former  disobedience ;  for  such 
effects  would  be  possible  only  from  a  God  supreme- 
by-will,  rather  than  supreme-by-law. 

Man's  second  relationship  is  to  the  Father  of 
spirits,  which  therefore  is  a  purely  personal  rela- 
tion— that  of  child  to  parent.  As  an  inevitable 
consequence,  the  expression  of  this  relationship 
is  mercy,  love,  forbearance,  long-suffering, — all 
the  Christ-type  of  divine  attributes.  Herein  then 
lies  the  source  of  the  sinner's  remorse :  his  awak- 
ened soul  feels  (rather  than  knows)  how  it  has  dis- 
graced its  divine  ancestry,  how  it  has  spurned  and 
outraged  divine  love.  Confronted  with  a  revela- 
tion of  such  baseness  and  ingratitude,  how  could 
it  feel  otherwise?  But  it  perceives  also  that  in 
the  new  relationship  with  God  its  life  will  be  cast 
among  the  workers,  Jesus  Christ  at  their  head; 
whose  very  bond  of  fellowship  is  love  of  God  and 
love  of  man.  It  may  not  consciously  reason  to 
all  this,  but  the  truth-essence  of  it  is  there  in  the 
revelation  which  caused  the  soul-awakening.  How 
can  it  enter  this  realm  of  the  pure  in  heart,  unless 
assured  that  it  is  forgiven? 

Now,  while  absolution  by  divine  justice  is  the 
very  sine  qua  non  of  reconciliation  with  God,  it 
alone  could  not  avail  for  further  progress  unless 
the  soul  should  also  be  assured  of  its  absolution 
by  love ;  for  not  to  be  so  assured  would  be  to  carry 


The  Science  of  Mormonism 

a  load  of  evil  consciousness  that  would  paralyze 
all  efforts  at  improvement.  It  is  this  psychic 
fact,  I  think,  that  made  the  Lord  take  away  all 
memory  of  pre-existence.  He  did  not  wish  to 
load  us  down  in  a  new  world  with  the  lock-step 
memories  of  a  past  one.  No  other  status  than 
this — of  oblivion  to  the  past — would  comport  with 
the  category  of  innocence  which  the  Scriptures  at- 
tribute to  the  new-born  babe ;  a  status  of  forgive- 
ness followed  by  a  status  of  oblivion  to  things 
forgiven. 

But  forgiveness,  be  it  noted,  adds  nothing  posi- 
tive to  man's  psychic  evolution ;  it  merely  unloads 
the  soul  of  remorse,  thus  freeing  it  for  action, 
and  tending  to  make  it  forget  the  scars  of  past 
transgression.  In  short,  it  restores  innocence, 
which  involves  a  consciousness  of  reciprocal  love, 
but  does  not  add  power;  consequently,  and  pre- 
cisely as  we  should  expect,  children,  though  all 
born  innocent  alike,  are  by  no  means  all  gifted 
with  power  alike;  and  the  same  fact  is  true  of 
souls  restored  to  innocence  by  baptism. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE    LOGICAL   NECESSITY    OF    BAPTISM 

HOW  can  this  assurance  of  forgiveness  come  to 
the  troubled  soul?  "By  the  testimony  of 
the  spirit"  will  be  the  answer  of  all  who  have 
passed  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death ; 
"by  the  peace  of  God  which  comes  to  give  it  rest 
—the  peace  which  passeth  all  understanding." 
This  is,  of  course,  the  final,  the  only  answer ;  noth- 
ing short  of  such  peace  could  give  the  assurance  of 
reconciliation  with  God.  But  how  does  it  come  to 
man?  Must  he  not  do  something  in  order  to  re- 
ceive it? 

In  reasoning  out  this  question,  let  us  not  depart 
from  analogy.  A  and  B,  let  us  say,  are  dear 
friends.  A  in  a  moment  of  anger  grievously 
wrongs  B,  but  stung  with  remorse  as  sorely  re- 
pents, resumes  his  amiable  relations  with  B,  but 
from  a  false  sense  of  pride  does  not  confess  the 
wrong  and  ask  forgiveness.  B  on  his  part  has 
generously  forgiven  A,  but  out  of  delicacy  cannot 
say  so — indeed,  would  rather  spare  his  friend 
further  pain  by  burying  the  incident  forever. 

But  that  last  is  precisely  what  neither  can  do. 
The  wrong  is  dead,  truly  enough,  but  it  will  not 

173 


1 74      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

under.  Oblivion  cannot  hide  it  till  some  token  of 
forgiveness  has  passed  between  them.  This  token 
may  be  never  so  slight — a  grasp  of  the  hand,  a 
moment  of  silence  during  which  soul  speaks  to 
soul,  or  something  even  less  tangible  still;  but 
unless  there  is  a  token,  the  ghost  of  wrong  will  not 
be  laid.  It  haunts  their  every  association,  and 
more  especially  on  occasions  of  mutual  admiration. 
"And  I  could  wrong  such  a  friend — cur  that  I 
was,"  says  the  inner  voice  of  A.  "  It  was  n't  this 
noble,  generous  friend  that  did  it,"  says  the  sub- 
consciousness  of  B;  "A's  better  self  could  never 
have  stooped  so  low." 

If  these  friends  do  not  take  heed,  this  ghost  will 
estrange  them — out  of  sheer  desire  on  the  part  of 
each  to  be  at  ease.  For  the  truth  of  this  analogy, 
I  appeal  to  the  experience  of  every  man  and 
woman  that  reads  this  chapter. 

It  is  precisely  so  with  the  greatest  of  all  acts  of 
reconciliation,  that  between  God  and  man.  Nor  is 
it  the  part  of  man  to  choose  what  that  peace- 
winged  token  shall  be;  for  although  a  fugitive 
peace  has  come  to  thousands,  through  implicit 
faith  in  tokens  of  their  own  choosing,  the  ghost 
of  unrest  will  rise  again,  whenever  by  the  clearer 
dawning  of  truth  it  shall  come  to  them  that 
such  tokens  were  neither  of  God's  choosing,  nor 
probably  accepted  by  Him.1  Nor  can  this  false 

1  Among  such  fugitive  peace  expedients  belong  manifestly 
those  pitiful  tokens  of  absolution  called  indulgences,  which 
so  aroused  the  lions  of  the  Reformation,  but  which  are  taken 


Necessity  of  Baptism  175 

security  ever  be  made  so  subtile  that  God's  light 
shall  not  discover  it  at  last. 

Now  while  God  has  invariably  had  a  token  of 
forgiveness  in  all  His  dealings  with  man,  it  has  not 
always  been  the  same  thing.  To  Noah  and  his 
family  it  was  the  bow  of  promise ;  to  the  children 
of  the  Mosaic  dispensation  it  took  various  forms 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  sin;  sacrifices, 
burnt  offerings,  the  scapegoat,  the  sprinkling  of 
blood.  In  every  Gospel  dispensation  the  token 
of  forgiveness  has  been  baptism  for  him  who  is 
about  to  enter  the  kingdom,  and  prayer, — the 
confessional  with  God  Himself,  or  perhaps  repre- 
sented by  our  guardian  angel,  as  confessor, — for 
those  who  sin  after  entering  the  kingdom. 

But  baptism  is  more  than  a  sign  of  reconcilia- 
tion; it  is  the  visible  token  of  that  covenant 
whereby  man  leaves  the  worked-with  class,  and 
is  accepted  among  the  workers.  If  the  reader 
admits  that  the  psychic  evolution  of  the  soul 
cannot  go  on  forever  in  an  indirect  way, —  the 

tamely  and  quite  as  matters  of  fact  in  Spain  to-day.  And 
if  these  general  forms  of  forgiveness — blanks  of  salvation  to 
be  filled  in  the  name  of  John  Doe,  et  a/,  bona-fide  purchasers 
— are  thus  to  be  clas^d,  how  much  better  are  the  specific 
forms  of  the  same  thing — the  absolutions  of  the  auricular 
confessional?  To  self -chosen  tokens  of  divine  absolution, 
belong  also  all  penances,  pilgrimages,  gifts  to  clergy,  endow- 
ments of  churches,  etc.,  in  so  far  as  they  are  relied  upon  for 
the  peace  of  heaven ;  also,  all  those  facile  adaptations  of  the 
ritual  of  Scripture  now  so  common  in  modern  Christian  sects, 
to  suit  the  prejudices,  or  aesthetic  tastes  of  dilettante  com- 
municants. 


1 76      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

unconscious  result  of  environment;  if  he  admits 
that  the  time  must  inevitably  arrive  when  man 
must  come  face  to  face  with  his  Master,  and  there 
after  consent  or  refuse  to  become  a  conscious 
cooperator  in  his  own  salvation, — then  it  follows 
that  man  must  make  at  last  a  definite  contract  or 
covenant  with  God,  even  as  one  personal  being 
with  another. 

.  But  such  a  contract  is  inconceivable  without  a 
token.  Nor  is  man  at  liberty  to  choose  that 
token ;  the  greater  of  the  two  contracting  parties 
always  decides  upon  the  terms.  To  ignore  this 
fact  is  to  be  guided  by  the  most  childish  form  of 
self -stultification.  How  must  we  rate  the  intelli- 
gence of  an  immigrant  who  should  choose  a  token 
of  his  own  for  becoming  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States?  Is  the  kingdom  of  God  to  be  supposed 
less  exacting  in  its  order?  How  would  the  unity 
and  harmony  of  heaven  be  reconcilable  with  such 
looseness  in  the  laws  of  adoption? 

Of  course,  if  the  supreme  being  with  whom  men 
make  covenants  be  conceived  as  a  universal, 
impalpable  essence, — everywhere  yet  nowhere, — 
the  covenants  themselves  may  be  vague  and  in- 
definite ;  the  vaguer,  the  more  indefinite,  they  are, 
the  better;  or  at  least  the  more  consistent  they 
would  be  with  the  nature  of  the  chief  contracting 
party.  Indeed,  no  contract  at  all,  is  still  better, 
or  one  made  simply  with  one's  self ;  for  if  God  is 
such  a  universal  essence,  and  the  basis  of  all  phe- 
nomena, man  is  as  much  God  as  that  mountain, 


Necessity  of  Baptism  i?7 

or  this  stream,  or  that  star, — and  therefore,  as 
Theosophists  say  truly  enough,  the  only  God 
with  whom  he  can  ever  come  into  psychic  relation. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  God  is  the  prototype  of 
man ;  if  all  man's  ideas  of  order  and  harmony,  as 
exhibited  in  governments  and  other  social  institu- 
tions, are  in  fact  only  the  ragged  echoes  of  the  in- 
finite order  of  heaven's  institutions, — then  surely 
the  token  of  admission  into  that  higher  social 
order  cannot  be  less  definite,  less  exacting  than 
similar  tokens  in  earthly  governments. 

With  this  brief  outline  of  explanation,  I  assume 
the  two  following  series  of  facts  to  be  irrefragable : 
first,  man's  psychic  evolution  becomes  at  length 
impossible  without  conscious  co-operation  with 
God;  second,  that  co-operation,  involving  as  it 
does  the  eternal  responsibility  resulting  from  ac- 
cepting God  as  final  and  absolute  authority  in  all 
his  future  being  and  doing,  cannot  begin  save  by 
an  untrammelled  act  of  free  will  on  man's  part,— 
in  other  words,  a  definite  compact  with  God; 
third,  such  a  compact  between  personal  beings  is 
impossible  without  a  token ;  fourth,  it  being  God's 
kingdom  of  workers  into  which  man  seeks  to  enter, 
God  alone  can  determine  what  the  token  of  admis- 
sion shall  be.  Or,  from  another  point  of  view: 
first,  deliverance  from  the  bondage  of  sin  is  possible 
only  through  repentance ;  second,  such  deliverance 
is  effective  for  further  progress  only  as  the  sinner 
is  also  freed  from  the  consciousness  of  his  sins,  i.  e., 
only  as  he  feels  himself  forgiven ;  but,  third,  such 


1 78      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

an  act  of  reconciliation  between  personal  beings  is 
impossible  without  a  token ;  fourth,  God  only  has 
a  right  to  determine  that  token. 

Thus  by  each  series  the  same  conclusion  is 
reached :  a  token  between  God  and  man  is  essen- 
tial to  salvation;  and  no  other  token  than  that 
chosen  by  God  is  effective;  either  as  the  seal  of 
God's  peace  to  the  wracked  soul  of  the  sinner,  or 
as  the  badge  of  his  citizenship  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  In  order,  then,  to  establish  in  the  do- 
main of  probable  reasoning, — and  that  without 
reference  to  the  fiat  of  Jehovah,  though  that  fiat 
alone  should  be  conclusive, — the  logical  necessity 
of  baptism,  it  remains  only  for  me  to  show  that 
this  token  alike  of  forgiveness  and  of  citizenship 
is  actually  the  token  chosen  by  God.  At  first  it 
would  seem  that  the  only  evidence  of  this  latter 
fact  is  the  overwhelming,  the  uncontradicted  tes- 
timony of  Scripture ;  but  on  second  thought,  it 
must  occur  to  all  that  a  token  chosen  by  God 
would  exhibit  evidences  of  the  wisdom  of  God. 
Let  us  then  look  at  the  question  from  this  point  of 
view. 

To  exhibit  such  divine  evidences,  a  token  must, 
in  my  humble  opinion,  be  characterized  by  three 
general  facts :  (i )  it  must  be  uniformly  intelligible, 
so  as  to  conduce  to  the  unity  of  mankind ;  (2)  it 
must  be  widely,  if  not  uniformly,  applicable,  so  as 
to  be  within  reach  of  all  mankind;  and  (3)  be- 
sides doing  its  essential  work  as  a  token,  it  must 
be  rich  in  soul  suggestions. 


Necessity  of  Baptism  1 79 

If  it  be  objected  in  respect  of  the  first  condition 
that  baptism,  as  interpreted  by  Christian  sects, 
has  tended  to  scatter  mankind,  the  reply  is,  that 
there  is  nothing  difficult  whatever  in  the  scrip- 
tural idea  itself;  and  the  proof  of  this  is  that  the 
simplest  mind  turned  loose  upon  the  sacred  pages 
and  untrammelled  by  sect  prejudice  can  come  to 
no  other  than  the  one  right  conclusion.  The  fact 
that  certain  texts  are  tortured  past  recognition  in 
support  of  other  forms  of  baptism  is  no  proof  that 
those  other  forms  sprang  originally  from  inter- 
pretations of  the  Bible;  it  only  shows  to  what 
desperate  lengths  men  will  go,  after  having 
gratuitously  changed  the  divine  token,  to  find 
color  and  sanction  for  their  substitution.  Besides, 
baptism  counts  for  nothing  save  as  administered 
by  divine  authority ;  and  when  such  authority  is 
upon  the  earth,  there  is  unbroken  communication 
with  heaven,  to  settle  questions  of  this  kind, 
which,  if  left  unsettled,  would  tend  to  divide  man- 
kind,— just,  in  fact,  as  there  was  in  the  days  of 
the  apostles.  God  never  intended  baptism  should 
be  administered  under  any  other  circumstances. 

As  to  the  second  condition,  there  can  be  no 
question  of  the  almost  uniform  accessibility  of 
baptism  to  the  human  race.  Had  the  token  been 
a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  it  must  have  excluded 
the  majority  of  mankind;  had  it  been  even  so 
simple  a  thing  as  recording  allegiance  to  God  in  the 
Bible,  it  would  not  have  been  within  the  reach  of 
all ;  but  water  is  everywhere,  and,  like  air,  is  one 


i8o      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

of  the  gifts  of  God  uniformly  free, — at  least  for 
such  purposes, — to  rich  and  poor  alike. 

As  to  the  third  condition,  the  first  rich  soul  sug- 
gestion I  find  is  that  baptism  typifies  or  sym- 
bolizes our  mortal  birth I  and  parallels  all  its 
implications.  Does  the  spirit  in  being  born  leave 
an  old  world — pre-existence — to  enter  a  new?  So 
does  the  person  baptized.  Does  the  fact  of  a 
spirit's  mortal  birth  restore  his  innocence?  So 
does  baptism.  Does  birth  bring  a  spirit  to  the 
protecting  arms  of  a  loving  father  (and  mother)  ? 
So  does  baptism.  Does  birth  start  a  spirit  upon 
a  new  and  wonderful  life,  under  the  guidance  of 
loving  parentage  ?  So  does  baptism.  Is  birth  the 
universally  recognized  badge  of  relationship  to 
that  parentage?  So  by  baptism,  are  sons  and 
daughters  born  to  God,  of  their  own  free  will. 

As  a  second  example  of  rich  suggestion,  I  may 
mention  that  baptism  is  compared  by  Paul  to  a 
planting  (Rom.  vi.,  5).  What  happens  when  a 
seed  is  placed  in  proper  soil?  Its  soul  energies 
are  stirred;  a  new  life  within  it  is  set  free,  which 
springs  upward,  seeking  to  become  like  its  parent. 
Is  not  this  precisely  a  parallel  of  that  spiritual 
potentiality  in  us  which,  set  free  by  baptism, 
seeks  to  become  perfect  as  its  Father  is  perfect? 

Let  us  next  consider  the  fact  that  baptism  is 

1  It  was  Christ  Himself  who  pointed  out  this  parallel:  "  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  of  the  water  and  of  the  spirit,"  said  he 
to  Nicodemus,  "he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven." — 
John  iii.,  5. 


Necessity  of  Baptism  181 

compared  to  a  cleansing.  "  And  now  why  tamest 
thou?"  said  Ananias  to  Paul,  "Arise  and  be 
baptized  and  wash  away  thy  sins."  Surely  the 
parallel  here  pointed  out  is  obvious.  "The  like 
figure  whereunto  baptism  doth  now  save  us, "  says 
Peter  (I.  iii.,  21).  "  Not  the  putting  away  of  the 
filth  of  the  flesh" — for  that  would  be  merely  the 
natural  effect  of  the  water;  "but  the  answer  of  a 
good  conscience  toward  God";  in  other  words,  a 
parallel  cleansing  of  the  soul  by  the  act  for  which 
baptism  is  a  token. 

We  have  seen  then  that  baptism  symbolizes 
birth,  and  growth,  and  regeneration  or  cleansing; 
now  we  are  to  see  that  it  also  typifies  two  other 
tremendous  facts  in  the  soul's  evolution,  viz., 
death  and  resurrection.  "We  are  buried  with 
Christ  by  baptism  unto  death,"  says  Paul,  "that 
like  as  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  by  the 
glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk 
in  newness  of  life"  (Rom.  vi.,  4).  Draw  out  the 
parallel  as  far  as  you  like  here,  the  effect  is  only 
intensified.  What  can  be  more  horrible  than  the 
body  which  mortifies  and  decomposes  in  the  earth  ? 
Well,  sin,  which  figuratively  is  left  in  the  watery 
grave,  is  no  less  repulsive  to  God.  Again,  what 
can  be  more  radiantly  pure  than  a  resurrected 
being,  whom  even  the  sun's  rays  could  not  further 
purify?  Such  by  comparison  is  the  change 
wrought,  or  made  possible,  by  a  life  of  regenera- 
tion to  which  baptism  is  the  door. 

Where,  then,   in  the  whole  range  of  natural 


1 82      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

objects  touching  man,  could  another  phenomenon 
be  chosen  which,  besides  being  a  token,  should 
exhibit,  in  a  flash,  man's  whole  psychic  life  and 
destiny?  Let  the  sceptic  sit  down  and  ponder 
this  question,  then  try  object  after  object,  and  at 
last  confess  that  immersion  in  water  is  a  token  the 
choice  of  which  is  worthy  the  wisdom  of  God  Him- 
self. And  let  those  proud  prelates  of  the  Middle 
Ages  who  sought,  by  substituting  sprinkling,  to 
improve  upon  God's  token — and  all  their  defend- 
ers in  our  day, — be  forever  ashamed  of  their  vain 
presumption.  And  let  mankind,  who  have  been 
led  astray  by  these  presumptuous  teachers,  awake 
from  the  fugitive  peace  into  which  this  false  token 
has  lulled  them,  and  seek  the  God  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  with  whom  only  is  salvation. 

Baptism  is  thus  seen  to  be  a  logical  necessity  in 
the  psychic  evolution  of  the  soul, — a  condition 
essential  to  salvation.  In  this  day,  when  the 
tendency  is  to  dismantle  the  ship  of  salvation  of 
every  characteristic  thing  by  which  it  can  take 
hold  of  wind  or  wave  on  its  own  account,  leav- 
ing the  crew  only  a  floating  hulk  in  which  to 
sing,  and  pray,  and  groan,  and  gaze  heavenward 
for  help — a  spectacle  of  infinite  comedy  to  the 
Devil  on  a  neighboring  peak ;  a  day,  in  which  the 
tendency  is  toward  a  so-called  unity  so  utterly 
emasculated  and  characterless,  that  it  is  disturbed 
by  coughing  aloud, — this  doctrine  (and  others 
like  it),  the  reassertion  by  logic  of  the  thunder- 
tones  of  revelation,  ought  to  try  men's  faith  like  a 


Necessity  of  Baptism  183 

trip  hammer;  to  test  whether  there  is  yet  any 
virile  rebound  in  it,  or  whether  it  has  degenerated 
into  a  mere  jelly-like  mass  of  sentimental  sham 
and  pretense. 

Mormons  desire  Christian  unity  also;  but  not 
at  the  sacrifice  of  the  trunk  and  limbs  of  the  tree, 
and  the  holding  of  a  love  feast  around  the  piled- 
up  leaves.1  Real  unity  is  possible  only  on  the  ba- 
sis of  truth — grim,  unrelenting,  uncompromising 
truth.  Better  a  thousand  times  the  tonic  bitter- 
ness of  division,  than  the  insipid  sweet  of  a  bone- 
less, sinewless,  nerveless  affectation  of  universal 
brotherly  love. 

This  must  close  my  discussion  of  the  first  or 
external  epoch  in  the  psychic  evolution  of  the 
soul.  From  pre-existence  up  till  the  time  it 
"found  itself," — that  is,  up  till  the  time  it  recog- 
nized God  as  God,  and  entered  into  covenant  with 
Him,  the  forces  shaping  it  were  for  the  most  part 

1  In  this  figure  the  trunk  stands  for  God, — that  is  to  say 
divine  authority  as  represented  by  the  Priesthood ;  the  limbs 
and  branches  stand  therefore  for  the  expression  of  that  au- 
thority in  Church  organization  and  social  forms ;  the  leaves 
would  thus  be  the  response  in  faith-profession  of  the  members ; 
and  the  fruit  would  be  the  reaction  of  that  faith-profession  in 
works  of  repentance.  Now,  it  is  precisely  this  faith-profession 
(not  works  or  Church  forms)  that  is  proposed  as  a  basis  for 
Christian  unity;  and  as  leaves  cut  from  their  branches  are 
dead,  so  such  profession  can  never  be  anything  else  than 
sham  or  maudlin  sentiment.  I  append  this  note  to  defend 
the  justness  of  my  analogy;  also,  lest  it  might  be  thought  a 
better  figure  to  have  the  innocuous  universal  love-feast 
happen  around  the  stripped  and  barren  pole  (of  mere  con- 
fession that  Jesus  is  the  Christ). 


1 84      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

indirect;  the  nearest  approach  to  direct  or  self- 
conscious  evolution  being  at  those  periods  when 
law  was  recognized  as  criterion  both  for  inspira- 
tion and  reward.  Following  the  course  of  this 
evolution,  we  have  seen  how,  responding  little  by 
little  to  a  thousand  adjustments  of  environment 
involving  time,  place,  and  general  condition  of 
birth  such  as  parentage,  associates,  occupation; 
and  involving  also  all  the  individual  vicissitudes 
of  life,  as  these  are  shaped  by  Providence,  ever 
without  violating  its  free  agency, — the  soul  at  last 
"comes  to  God" — must  come  to  God,  if  its  evolu- 
tion is  to  continue  forever. 

I  like  the  phrase  of  Paul's  " coming  to  God" ;  it 
implies  not  only  psychic  unity  with  God,  but  pro- 
gressive approach  to  His  perfection  and  power. 
From  the  time  of  baptism  onward,  an  internal  or 
self-conscious  epoch  of  evolution  will  begin:  the 
man  has  been  born  again.  And  while  evolution 
will  go  on  also  by  indirect  forces  to  the  end  of 
time,  it  will  take  on  a  new  significance  by  reason 
of  being  interpreted  from  a  spiritual  point  of  view. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE    NATURE    OF    SPIRITUAL   EVOLUTION 

NATURAL  as  the  language  of  imagery  is  to  the 
oriental  mind,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
Jews,  learned  though  they  were  in  esoteric  exe- 
gesis, grasped  even  faintly  the  significance  of 
Christ's  definition  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  In- 
deed, the  Apostles  themselves,  who  were  daily 
with  the  Master,  did  not  fully  understand  it,  till 
after  the  Resurrection  when  they  were  endued 
with  power  from  on  high ;  and  Judas,  who  did  not 
live  till  the  day  of  Pentecost,  probably  never 
knew,  unless  perhaps  it  was  the  sudden  revelation 
of  it  that  overwhelmed  him  into  his  own  death. 

The  occasion  for  the  definition  was  this:  The 
Pharisees,  chafing  under  the  bondage  of  Rome, 
and  reading  for  consolation  the  prophetic  scrolls 
concerning  Israel's  deliverance  and  final  triumph, 
were  especially  eager  for  the  advent  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  which  they  naturally  regarded  as  the 
day  of  their  salvation.  But  when  Jesus  was  ap- 
proached on  the  subject  He  made  this  enigmatical 
answer:  " The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with 
outward  show:  neither  shall  they  say  'Lo  here!' 

185 


i86      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

or  '  Lo  there!'  for,  behold,  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
within  you." 

Here  was  a  conception  of  power  and  supremacy 
utterly  new  to  the  old-world  civilization,  and 
coming  as  it  did  in  the  very  mid-day  radiance  of 
the  Hamitic  ideal  that  might  makes  right,  small 
wonder  if  it  was  incomprehensible.  The  idea  that 
a  something  latent  in  the  human  heart  was  power- 
ful enough  to  destroy  the  legions  of  Rome,  and 
break  in  pieces  the  iron  kingdom,  would  be  the 
last  thought  to  come  into  their  minds.  Theirs 
was  the  notion  of  an  external  kingdom,  the  re- 
storation of  Solomon's  empire.  "Lohere!" — the 
army  of  deliverance  terrible  in  its  panoply  of  war ; 
"Lo  there!" — the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  an 
oriental  monarch,  the  dynasty  of  David  come 
again  to  power, — such  were  the  visions  that  rilled 
the  Jewish  imagination.  And  when  a  few  days 
later  Christ,  as  had  been  prophesied  of  their  de- 
liverer, rode  into  Jerusalem  on  an  ass,  it  was  the 
hope  of  such  a  kingdom  that  made  the  multitude 
strew  garments  and  palm  branches  in  his  way,  and 
shout:  "Hosanna  to  the  son  of  David:  Blessed  is 
he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord!" 

' '  The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you. ' '  We  have 
lived  to  see  the  triumph  of  this  power  which  steals 
among  mankind  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  as 
it  were,  and  not  with  outward  show.  Simply  a 
truth-ideal,  microscopic  in  its  first  faint  flutterings 
of  life ;  a  faint  and  far-away  song  awakened  in  the 
soul  of  man  wherever  faith  has  opened  the  door  to 


Spiritual  Evolution  187 

the  angel  of  light.  We  have  seen  the  great  and 
the  mighty  of  Ham  and  Japheth  fall  before  this  in- 
visible yet  invincible  host  of  Shem.  Nor  has  the 
triumph  of  this  inner  kingdom  more  than  fairly 
begun:  its  glory  shall  yet  encompass  the  earth 
and  eventually  baptize  her  with  a  new  name- 
heaven. 

How  remarkably  this  spiritual  awakening,  this 
beginning  of  the  psychic  evolution  of  the  soul  is  re- 
peated by  analogy  in  almost  every  living  thing! 
Take  the  oak  as  a  simple  example.  Out  on  the 
tips  of  its  branches  is  born — by  flowering  and 
fertilization — first  a  husk,  or  body  of  tough, 
fibrous  material,  next  a  soul  of  meat,  and  lastly, 
hidden  away  somewhere  in  the  latter,  a  micro- 
scopic oak — the  one  potentiality  that  shall  enable 
it  to  become  perfect,  as  its  parent  oak  is  perfect. 
Likewise  is  hidden  away  in  the  soul  of  man  a 
miniature  kingdom  of  God ;  or,  to  be  more  exact, 
the  potentiality  of  becoming  perfect  as  his  Father 
in  heaven  is  perfect. 

Man's  outer  husk  has  been  slowly  growing  since 
his  birth  in  heaven ;  so  has  his  soul  been  filling  out 
with  the  meat  of  almost  endless  experiences.  Is 
this  husk  of  body,  filled  with  its  meat  of  soul,  to 
begin  evolving,  even  as  it  has  for  ages  been  in- 
volving? Or  is  it  destined  to  rot  on  the  rock  of 
doubt,  barely  covered  with  the  blackening  leaves 
of  mere  physical  or  earth-experiences?  That  de- 
pends entirely  on  whether  it  falls  in  good  soil,  and 
then  whether  its  germ-potentiality,  the  kingdom 


1 88      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

of  God  within  it,  begins  to  grow  and  come  out 
of  it. 

But  let  us  at  this  point  of  the  analogy  note  an 
important  difference.  The  acorn  rests  where  it 
falls ;  unlike  man,  therefore,  a  chance  determines 
largely  whether  it  shall  become  an  oak.  Nor  has 
it  more  than  one  brief  season  in  which  to  succeed 
or  fail.  Were  I  a  revivalist,  I  should  perhaps  in- 
sist most  strongly  on  the  likeness  of  this  last  as- 
pect. But  I  am  not.  Like  Paul,  I  feel  to  say: 
' '  If  in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are 
of  all  men  most  miserable."  Soul  evolution  may 
begin  hereafter  in  the  spirit  world ;  yet  no  doubt 
the  longer  it  is  delayed  the  more  perilous  will  be 
the  outcome.  Nevertheless,  it  holds  finally  true 
that  unless  evolution  does  begin,  there  happens  to 
the  soul  what  happens  to  the  acorn  that  fails  to 
sprout :  it  goes  back  to  the  elements  whence  it  was 
created. 

Let  us  next  look  at  some  other  significant  paral- 
lels. In  the  first  place,  while  the  acorn  holds 
within  itself  the  potentiality  of  an  oak,  it  is  abso- 
lutely dependent  on  an  external  power,  the  sun, 
not  only  to  set  free  that  miniature  life  within  it, 
but  to  nurture  and  protect  it,  season  after  season, 
until  it  actually  attains  its  complete  evolution. 
So  also  without  the  grace  of  God  to  awaken  it  and 
the  constant  providence  of  God  to  fortify  and  de- 
velop it,  the  heaven-potentiality  in  man  must 
equally  remain  dormant,to  the  soul's  final  undoing. 

But  here  again  comes  in  a  difference.     The  con- 


Spiritual  Evolution  189 

ditions  being  favorable,  it  is  not  given  to  the  soul 
of  the  oak  to  resist  the  forces  of  its  evolution. 
It  is,  or  it  is  not,  by  the  will  of  God  alone.  Not 
so  with  the  soul  of  man.  Not  only  must  he  will 
to  co-operate  with  grace,  both  in  the  awakening 
and  in  the  development  of  the  God-ideal  within 
him,  if  these  operations  are  to  go  on  at  all ;  but, 
should  he  choose  to  do  so,  he  can  cease  assisting 
and  effectually  oppose  and  destroy  this  divine 
power  at  any  point  in  his  evolution.  For  man  is 
free, — free  as  God  in  a  negative  sense ;  potentially 
as  free  in  a  positive  sense;  and  dynamically  as 
free,  to  the  extent  that  his  psychic  evolution  has 
been  completed. 

In  the  light  of  these  simple  analogies,  let  us 
compare  some  passages  of  Scripture  which,  like 
baptism,  have  been  the  means  of  splitting  Chris- 
tianity up  into  the  wrangle  and  jangle  of  sectism. 

"For  by  grace,"  says  Paul,  "are  ye  saved 
through  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves, — it  is 
the  gift  of  God :  not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should 
boast."  (Eph.  ii.,  8,  9).  In  this  passage  four  im- 
portant concepts  occur:  grace,  salvation,  faith, 
and  works.  The  question  is,  How  are  they  re- 
lated? Manifestly  the  order  of  sequence  is  this: 
(i)  faith,  the  exercise  of  that  native  power  which 
opens  the  soul  to  truth ;  (2)  grace  or  the  inpouring 
of  the  spirit  of  God,  in  consequence  of  the  opening 
of  man's  soul  to  truthness ;  (3)  salvation,  involv- 
ing two  things,  the  awakening  of  the  God-ideal  in 
man,  and  the  progressive  evolution  of  that  ideal 


The  Science  of  Mormonism 


under  the  fostering  power  of  grace;  (4)  works. 
In  the  sense  of  the  exertion  of  man's  will,  these 
are  implied  in  two  of  the  previous  operations  :  in 
the  faith  that  opens  the  door  to  grace,  and  in  the 
progressive  soul-adjustments  which  are  involved 
in  the  evolution  of  the  God-ideal.  Works  in  this 
latter  sense  are  distinctly  pointed  out  by  Paul  as 
necessary,  in  the  verse  next  to  those  above  quoted. 
'  'For  we  are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Jesus 
Christ  unto  good  works,"  —  the  works  being,  as 
indicated  above,  those  which  flow  out  of  grace, 
i.  e.,  those  which  we  "are  created  into  Christ 
Jesus"  to  perform. 

Which,  then,  are  the  works  set  in  opposition  to 
grace  —  the  works  Paul  seems  to  condemn?  We 
shall  see  presently. 

The  apostle  James  contends,  and  I  think  irre- 
fragably,  that  only  by  works  is  faith  made  per- 
fect. "  What  doth  it  profit,  though  a  man  say  he 
have  faith,  and  have  not  works?  Can  faith  save 
him?  If  a  brother  or  sister  be  naked,  and  desti- 
tute of  daily  food,  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them  : 
'  Depart  in  peace,  be  ye  warmed  and  filled  '  — 
nevertheless  ye  give  them  not  those  things  which 
are  needful  to  the  body:  what  doth  it  profit? 
Even  so  faith,  if  it  hath  not  works  is  dead,  being 
alone." 

Truly  enough,  Brother  James;  but  dead  things 
are  not  always  buried  ;  for  to  this  order  of  corpses 
belong  all  the  shams  and  artificialities  that  curse 
the  world  to-day.  Indeed,  dead  faith,  —  the  kind 


Spiritual  Evolution  191 

that  can  be  galvanized  into  just  enough  life  to 
sing  and  pray  and  groan  and  profess  that  it  can 
do  nothing  for  itself,  but  must  rely  solely  on  the 
merits  of  Jesus — is  by  far  the  most  popular  species 
of  deadly  self-delusion  that  the  race  has  ever  yet 
stumbled  upon;  developing  forms  of  religion 
which  are  in  the  nature  of  specialized  cults,  quite 
separate  and  apart  from  life  itself. 

Recollect  for  a  moment  how  absolutely  true 
the  apostles'  words  are.  If  we  agree  even  that  the 
faith  be  real  to  the  extent  that  it  results  in  grace, 
that  is,  in  the  awakening  or  planting  of  a  truth 
ideal,  how  shall  that  ideal  become  effectual  for 
salvation  unless  the  soul  conforms  its  order  of  life 
to  it  ?  A  thing  impossible  without  strenuous  soul- 
effort  in  the  nature  either  of  self-sacrifice,  if  it  be 
an  evil  habit  that  must  be  cut  away,  or  self- 
advancement,  if  it  be  some  power  of  righteousness 
to  be  attained. 

Suppose  the  acorn  to  be  endowed  with  volition, 
that  its  growth  and  development,  like  man's,  de- 
pend not  upon  God's  will,  but  its  own;  and  that 
as  soon  as  it  has  passed  through  the  ecstacy  of 
sprouting,  it  should  lie  back  with  a  languid 
affectation  of  loving  helplessness  and  say:  "  I  can 
do  nothing  for  myself,  I  must  rely  solely  on  the 
blessed  power  of  the  sun."  How  far  would  such 
a  programme  advance  its  evolution?  Why,  su- 
pineness  of  that  kind  would  not  suffice  for  the 
backbone  of  a  mushroom,  let  alone  the  strength 
of  an  oak. 


192       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

How  can  it  be  otherwise  with  man?  If  he  has 
received  grace,  what  is  it  but  a  trumpet  call  to 
work?  And  if  he  lies  down  under  the  delusion 
that  such  effeminacy  is  pleasing  to  God,  what 
becomes  of  His  grace  ?  Just  as  the  warmth  of  the 
sun,  which  serves  to  develop  the  growing  acorn, 
becomes  the  very  means  of  its  destruction,  should 
it  cease  to  grow,  so  grace,  which  continues  to 
bless  and  build  a  living  faith,  becomes  damnation 
to  a  dead  one. 

Nor  can  a  manly  self-reliance  be  offensive  to 
God,  as  the  morbid  sentimentalists  among  Chris- 
tians would  have  us  believe.  The  acorn  can  never 
become  an  oak  without  the  help  of  the  sun,  truly 
enough.  On  the  other  hand,  the  sun  can  never 
produce  an  oak  without  the  help  of  an  acorn. 
And  if  such  reciprocal  relationship  holds  with 
non- volitional  beings,  how  much  more  with  beings 
of  equally  free  will?  Can  man  become  perfect 
without  the  help  of  God?  Manifestly  not.  Can 
God  make  a  perfect  man  without  that  man's 
active  co-operation?  No;  for  if  He  could  evolve 
him  physically  and  mentally  by  His  will,  as  He 
does  the  birds  and  fishes,  the  man  would  at  last  be 
only  an  automaton,  lacking  the  essential  glory  of 
a  psychic  being, — a  perfected  free  will. 

Both  reason  and  the  common  experience  of  the 
race  therefore  stand  behind  the  declaration  of 
James  that  grace  (or  faith)  without  works  is  dead. 
Nor  does  any  other  text  in  Scripture  contradict  it. 
Paul's  words,  above  quoted,  while  often  inter- 


Spiritual  Evolution  193 

preted  so  as  to  contradict  James,  do  in  fact  only 
emphasize  the  same  truth  turned  round.  Paul's 
attitude  is  this:  "  Works  without  grace  (or  faith) 
are  dead" — a  truth  no  less  important,  as  I  shall 
now  proceed  to  show. 

The  work  of  sending  roots  earthward,  and 
trunk,  limbs,  branches,  and  twigs  skyward — if 
that  may  be  called  work  which  is  without  voli- 
tion— is  a  typical  example  of  organic  vegetable 
growth;  in  other  words,  of  evolution.  The  an- 
alogous case  of  man  receiving  grace  upon  grace 
from  God,  and  successively  harmonizing  his  life 
thereto,  presents  no  less  an  instance  of  organic 
human  growth  or  soul-evolution,  since  idealiza- 
tion and  expression  are  indissolubly  locked  as 
cause  and  effect.  But  consider  now  that  a  toler- 
able imitation  of  a  growing  oak  can  be  made  by  a 
skilful  artificer  by  sheer  means  of  hammer  and 
glue.  But  it  would  not  be  alive,  however  much  it 
might  deceive  the  beholder ;  for  the  reason — if  it 
is  not  utterly  ridiculous  to  give  a  reason, — that  its 
parts  would  not  be  related  by  organic  evolution. 

In  like  manner  there  may  be,  in  religion,  works 
without  faith;  works  growing  purely  out  of  the 
head,  not  out  of  the  heart  of  hearts,  which  is  the 
altar  of  grace.  Take  two  men,  one  of  whom  by 
fervent  devotion  receives  the  grace  of  God,  and 
in  obedience  thereto  is  baptized  and  begins  to  re- 
adjust his  habits  so  as  to  live  a  godly  life :  doing 
whatever  the  Lord  reveals  to  be  right  as  naturally 
as  stem  follows  leaf  on  the  oak.  The  other  man 


i94       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

imitates — for  various  reasons:  just  to  be  doing; 
or  for  worldly  advantage ;  or  for  fear  of  hell-fire ; 
or  because  he  thinks  his  friend  a  good  man,  and  it 
is  best  to  be  on  the  safe  side  if  there  should  happen 
to  be  anything  in  religion. 

Thus  during  the  course  of  a  life-time  the  works 
of  these  two  men  are  so  nearly  alike  as  to  deceive 
their  fellow-communicants;  and  while  the  life  of 
the  first  counts  everything  for  salvation,  the  life 
of  the  other  counts  nothing.  It  is  the  case  of  the 
natural  and  the  artificial  oak  over  again.  In 
spite  of  a  life  full  of  good  deeds,  the  soul  of  the 
latter  has  not  yet  begun  to  sprout.  Of  what  avail 
is  it  for  purposes  of  salvation  to  have  branches  or 
twigs  of  righteousness  nailed  onto  the  soul? 
"  For  by  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith  .  .  . 
not  by  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast." 

There  can  be  no  salvation  that  does  not  begin 
by  cementing  the  union  between  God  and  man. 
But  this  man  who  imitates  has  not  yet  found  God ; 
how  then  could  the  life  of  God  flow  into  his  life? 
Nor  do  his  many  good  deeds  flow  out  of  his  own 
soul,  as  flows  the  life  of  a  tree  from  trunk  to 
branches,  leaves,  and  fruit.  In  a  word,  his  re- 
ligion has  consisted  of  a  series  of  mechanical  ad- 
justments, while  that  of  his  brother  has  been  a 
series  of  related  acts  all  tied  together  as  one  or- 
ganic evolution  of  the  soul.  There  is  only  death 
in  the  one  while  there  is  life  eternal  in  the  other. 

Nor  need  we  look  far  to  discover  Paul's  reason 
for  taking  an  attitude  so  uncompromising  toward 


Spiritual  Evolution  195 

righteousness  of  the  mechanical  order;  for  was  it 
not  this  very  species  of  lifeless  works  that  charac- 
terized the  religion  of  the  Jews?  Paul's  words 
are  in  fact  but  a  very  faint  echo  of  Christ's  de- 
nunciation of  this  barren  religion  of  the  head. 
Listen  to  His  awful  words : 

Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites! 
For  ye  pay  tithe  of  mint  and  anise,  and  cummin,  and 
have  omitted  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judg- 
ment, mercy,  faith ;  these  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and 
not  left  the  others  undone.  Ye  blind  guides!  which 
strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel.  .  .  . .  Woe 
unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  for  ye 
are  like  unto  whited  sepulchres,  which  indeed  appear 
beautiful  outward  but  are  within  full  of  dead  men's 
bones  and  all  uncleanness. 

Nothing  could  be  more  searchingly  true  of 
religions  which,  losing  the  power  of  Godliness,  con- 
tinue punctiliously  to  observe  the  forms  of  Godli- 
ness, making  the  latter,  indeed,  a  screen  for  the 
diablerie  of  hell;  or,  as  Christ  puts  it,  a  painted 
sarcophagus  to  hide  the  festering  corruption  of 
their  dead  hearts.  Nor  is  this  hypocrisy  peculiar 
to  old-world  religions.  The  tendency  to  me- 
chanical forms  is  always  directly  in  the  ratio  of 
the  fickleness  of  man's  purpose;  for,  while  nat- 
ural forms  of  life,  such  as  the  trees  of  a  forest, 
are  dependent  upon  God's  will,  and  are  conse- 
quently kept  green  and  growing,  psychic  forms, 
such  as  those  of  religious  societies,  are  dependent 


196       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

primarily  upon  the  will  of  man ;  not  only  for  the 
faith  which  leads  to  the  outpouring  of  grace,  but 
for  that  progressive  repentance  on  which  condi- 
tion alone  grace  can  continue.  What  wonder 
then  that  religions  present  to  God  the  aspect  of 
dried-up  forests  oftener  than  otherwise  along 
down  the  ages!  That  there  are  many  such  psy- 
chic forests  now  waiting  the  torch  of  God's  justice, 
who  can  doubt,  that  has  made  any  comparisons 
between  form  and  substance  in  the  numerous  sects 
of  the  day? 

Coming  back  to  Christ's  declaration  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  potentially  within  man,  even 
as  the  oak  is  in  the  acorn,  we  may  first  note  in 
respect  of  causes  that  the  law  of  evolution  holds 
as  well  in  the  spiritual  as  in  the  natural  world ; 
that  as  the  sun  is  the  source  of  the  natural,  so  the 
spirit  of  God,  or  grace,  is  the  source  of  the  spiritual 
evolution ;  but  that,  while  God's  will  as  expressed 
in  natural  law  acts  without  reference  to  the  con- 
sent of  any  form  of  life  subject  to  it,  His  will  as 
expressed  in  grace  is  operative  only  as  earnestly 
desired  by  man,  and  may  be  in  fact  made  of  no 
effect  toward  spiritual  evolution  if  opposed  by 
man;  that  as  natural  evolution  is  but  the  un- 
folding of  God's  ideal  into  the  eternal  harmony 
of  things,  so  spiritual  evolution  is  but  the  unfold- 
ing of  His  ideals  in  the  eternal  social  relationships 
of  psychic  beings;  that  in  fact  the  kingdom  of 
God  within  man,  is  nothing  else  than  God's  proph- 
ecy of  a  kingdom  to  be  evolved  external  to  man ; 


Spiritual  Evolution  197 

whence  the  consistency  of  Christ's  definition  with 
that  other  conception  of  Paul  and  the  apostles, 
which  involves  a  perfect  church  organization  of 
apostles,  prophets,  bishops,  elders,  pastors,  teach- 
ers, deacons,  helps,  governments, — all  the  ma- 
chinery necessary  to  carry  out  God's  will  in  the 
social  evolution  of  the  race. 

We  may  next  note,  in  respect  of  effects,  that 
two  dangers  stand  between  the  inner  kingdom, 
or  God's  ideal,  and  its  evolution  to  an  outer  king- 
dom, or  expression  of  God's  ideal.  The  first 
danger  is  pointed  out  by  James:  Faith  without 
works  is  dead.  The  operation  of  this  danger  tends 
to  produce  those  religions  characterized  by  mere 
maudlin  sentimentalism :  like  some  green  thing 
which,  refusing  to  grow  upward  in  the  strength 
and  symmetry  of  a  tree,  merely  spreads  and 
sprawls  over  the  ground  in  useless  leaves.  The 
second  danger  is  pointed  out  by  Paul:  Works 
without  faith  (or  grace)  are  dead, — a  danger 
characterized  by  all  merely  mechanical  forms, 
rites,  and  ceremonies  of  religion,  and  well  re- 
presented by  a  tree  the  limbs  and  branches  of 
which  are  nailed  on,  painted,  and  furnished  with 
artificial  leaves, — the  incarnation  of  sham  and 
hypocrisy. 

The  Church  of  God  steers  clear  of  both  these 
dangers ;  recognizing  the  grace  of  God  as  the  only 
source  of  spiritual  ideals,  and  daily  and  hourly 
repentance  as  the  only  means  of  evolving  those 
ideals  to  their  full  function  of  salvation. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

SPIRITUAL   FORCES   ONLY   HIGHER   POWERS   OF 
FORCES   KNOWN   TO    PHYSICS 

THERE  remains  then  the  concept  " grace'*  to 
be  further  explained.  In  the  foregoing 
chapter  it  was  used  to  signify  that  inpouring  of 
truthness  or  the  spirit  of  God  into  the  soul  of  man, 
whereby  he  is  enabled  to  know,  without  doubt, 
that  God  lives,  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  or  any 
other  eternal  truth  necessary  to  the  beginning  of 
his  conscious  psychic  evolution.  As  used  there  it 
involves  also  the  nurture  and  development  of  the 
truth-ideals  so  revealed ;  whence  the  analogy  was 
drawn  between  the  sun's  relationship  to  the  germi- 
nation and  development  of  plant  life,  and  God's 
relationship,  through  the  medium  of  grace,  to  the 
conversion  and  ultimate  salvation  of  man.  Were 
I  writing  an  exposition  on  purely  religious  grounds, 
I  should  let  the  term  go  at  that ;  but  the  scientist 
may  well  ask:  What  is  this  thing  called  grace  or 
the  Spirit  of  God  ?  How  is  it  related  to  the  known 
forces  of  physics?  How  is  it  apprehensible  by 
man? 

By  the  conception  of  Mormonism,  all  the  pro- 
198 


Spiritual  Forces  199 

cesses  which  go  on,  whether  in  the  natural  or  in 
the  spiritual  world,  are  God's  processes.  If  man 
has  discovered  the  nature  of  these  processes  in  the 
natural  world,  he  has  a  basis  for  reasoning  to 
the  nature  of  those  in  the  spiritual  world.  For 
the  line  between  the  two  is  evidently  no  chasm :  it 
represents  to  man  merely  the  present  boundary  of 
the  known — the  point  where  science  ends  and 
faith  begins;  but  as  this  line  has  been  receding 
from  the  known  into  the  unknown  world  by  every 
new  and  important  discovery,  who  shall  say  that, 
to  God  at  least,  there  is  such  a  line  at  all?  Is  it 
not  more  rational  to  believe  that  the  natural 
world  grades  into  the  spiritual,  as  darkness  into 
day? 

Science  has  reached  the  conclusion  that  all 
forces  are  but  variously  tensed  forms  of  one  final, 
supreme  spiritual  energy  filling  the  universe. 
Differentiation  in  this  "  infinite  and  eternal 
energy, "  whereby  are  manifested  the  progres- 
sively related  phenomena  of  heat,  light,  actinism, 
chemism,  and  so  on,  proceeds  on  the  basis  of  a 
relative  increase  in  the  rate  of  vibration  per  sec- 
ond. Beginning  with  sound,  which  is  a  wave 
motion  of  the  air,  we  receive  the  first  psychic 
impression  when  the  beats  are  about  sixteen  to 
the  second,  and  continue  to  hear,  in  a  gradually 
increasing  pitch,  until  the  vibrations  attain  to 
about  41,000  per  second,  when  they  are  lost  to  the 
ear.  Nor  do  they  reach  the  consciousness  through 
any  other  channel,  until  they  increase  to  a  rate  of 


200      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

one  billion  wave-beats  per  second, — not  of  the  air, 
but  of  that  finer,  universal  medium, — when  a 
second  psychic  sensation  is  recorded  as  electricity. 

The  next  gap  occurs  beyond  the  billion  mark. 
After  leaving  electrical  phenomena  we  get  no 
other  sensation  till  we  reach  heat,  at  a  lowest 
limit  perhaps  of  three  hundred  trillion  wave-beats 
per  second.  The  unknown  region  between  in- 
volves therefore  an  interval  represented  by  299,- 
999,000,000,000,  silent  or  unregistered  vibrations 
per  second ! 

From  300  trillion  vibrations  per  second,  the 
lowest  point  of  heat,  to  400  trillions,  the  lowest 
point  of  light  (the  red  ray),  the  scale  is  continuous. 
So  also  it  passes  by  a  progressive  increase  of  rate 
through  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  and  indigo, 
reaching  again  a  limit  of  psychic  interpretation  in 
violet,  which  has  756  trillion  vibrations  per  second. 
But  the  sun's  energy  does  not  cease  at  the  highest 
point  of  light.  By  delicate  instruments  the  dark 
rays  above  violet  have  been  explored  over  a  range 
sixteen  times  as  wide  as  the  zone  of  light!  It  is 
in  this  region  that  actinism  and  chemism  work 
their  marvels  in  the  natural  world. 

But  there  comes  next  another  gap  of  total 
psychic  darkness,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  man's 
natural  senses  have  been  so  marvellously  multi- 
plied in  effectiveness  by  scientific  inventions. 
This  gap  is  represented  by  the  vibrations  occurring 
in  the  interval  between  i  quadrillion  and  about 
250  quadrillions  per  second.  Then  come  the  X- 


Spiritual  Forces  201 

rays,  beginning  at  288  quadrillions  per  second  and 
ending  at  four  and  a  half  quintillion  (4,500,000,- 
000,000,000,000!)  After  that,  nothing  is  known 
to  science ;  but  the  inference  is  obvious  that  there 
may  be  waves  of  the  eternal  medium  of  still  higher 
vibratory  power.1 

Let  us  realize  clearly  what  all  this  means.  These 
avenues  of  insight  into  the  harmony  of  the  uni- 
verse are  not  open  or  closed  to  mortal  senses  by 
chance;  God  arranged  them  so.  Why  He  lifts 
the  curtain  only  at  places,  leaving  vast  gaps  of 
darkness, — where  beings  differently  organized 
might  perceive  wonderful  things, — we  can  only 
surmise  at  best;  perhaps  because  man's  energies 
are  not  great  enough  to  adjust  his  life  to  a  wider 
range  of  truthness  than  what  the  natural  world 
affords. 

At  any  rate,  so  it  is;  and  he  is  wise  who  lets 
God, — that  is  to  say,  Nature  or  things  as  they  are, 
— decide  his  range  of  investigation;  just  as  he  is 
foolish  who,  in  cell  or  cloister  or  hermit's  cave, 
tortures  his  psychic  powers  into  dim  perceptions 
along  avenues  not  yet  lighted  up  by  infinite 
Wisdom.  A  few  glimpses  into  ghostland  are  but 
a  poor  recompense  for  marvellous  opportunities  in 
the  natural  world  neglected.  A  religion  which 
encourages  such  stolen  peeps  at  things  locked  and 
barred  to  ordinary  psychic  powers  is,  on  the  face 

1  These  figures  are  taken  from  a  table  arranged  recently  by 
Sir  William  Crookes  and  quoted  by  Camille  Flamarion  in  his 
late  book  entitled  The  Unknown,  pages  15  and  16. 


202      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

of  it,  a  false  religion.  What  should  we  think  of 
teachers  who  would  encourage  pupils  to  neglect 
their  primary  studies  and  waste  time  prying 
through  key-holes  into  the  class- work  of  the  high 
school  ?  On  the  other  hand,  what  value  should  we 
place  on  the  scraps  of  advanced  knowledge  so 
purloined?  And  yet  there  are  people  who  stand 
in  awe  of  mahatmas,  clairvoyants,  and  spirit 
mediums. 

Of  course  where  a  general  knowledge  of  the 
past  or  of  the  future  is  necessary  to  balance  prop- 
erly our  life  pursuits  in  the  present,  God  will  raise 
the  curtains  for  seers  and  prophets ;  whose  visions 
thus  become  our  guides,  in  so  far  as  guides  of  that 
kind  are  necessary.  For  the  rest,  if  the  nature 
and  constitution  of  things  as  they  are  stand  for 
anything,  then  they  proclaim  this  truth:  that 
mortal  experiences  are  peculiarly  the  present  duty 
of  mortal  beings ;  to  the  end  that  by  their  proper 
reaction  they  shall  further  the  psychic  advance- 
ment of  the  soul. 

But  in  order  that  there  may  be  such  a  true  re- 
action, it  is  necessary  that  there  be  a  true  inter- 
pretation :  one  must  know  what  is  right  before  one 
can  do  what  is  right.  Here  then  precisely  comes 
in  the  need  of  grace,  or  that  continuous  stream  of 
truthness  from  God,  in  the  light  of  which  mortal 
experiences  take  a  true  relative  value  and  per- 
spective ;  whence  rises  again  the  question,  whether 
such  an  addition  to  the  normal  consciousness  of 
man  is  possible. 


Spiritual  Forces  203 

From  a  posteriori  grounds  the  case  would  be 
simple  enough,  if  men  would  accept  that  kind  of 
evidence.  That  any  one  can  refuse  credence  to 
the  testimony  of  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand 
witnesses,  who  declare  they  know  God  lives,  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  that  the  Gospel  is  true,  or  that 
any  given  action  or  requirement  is  from  God,— 
may  seem  astounding  enough,  but  so  it  is.  Un- 
fortunately— perhaps  fortunately — we  are  not 
fitted  to  know  because  others  know;  the  faith 
engendered  by  such  testimony  is  at  best  but  cold 
and  apathetic.  It  may  incline  us  to  believe  that 
grace  is  possible,  without  making  us  wish  to  share 
the  blessing ;  or  it  may  simply  lead  us  to  pity  what 
we,  in  our  arrogation  of  superior  mental  strength, 
may  regard  as  merely  the  self-hypnosis  of  re- 
ligious enthusiasm.  Let  us  see,  then,  what  sup- 
port is  offered  on  a  priori  grounds. 

If  God  can  so  tense  the  eternal  medium  as  to 
touch  our  psychic  life  in  the  aspects  of  gravita- 
tion, sound,  heat,  light,  actinism,  chemism,  and 
so  on,  is  it  to  be  thought  incredible  that  He  can 
impress  it  with  a  rate  of  vibration  which  shall 
carry  assurances  of  Himself  or  of  His  mind  and 
will  to  our  souls?  The  energy  of  the  universe  so 
impressed  by  the  mind  and  will  of  the  Father  is 
the  Holy  Ghost  of  Scripture.  That  it  does  not 
respond  to  the  laboratory  tests  for  lower  differen- 
tiations of  the  eternal  medium, — what  of  it? 
Does  not  each  of  these  require  its  own  peculiar 
test?  Because  one  form  is  discoverable  by  an 


204      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

electrometer,  is  another  form  to  be  discredited 
because  it  responds  only  in  the  human  soul? 

But  the  Holy  Ghost  has  differentiations  within 
itself,  which  appeal  respectively  to  different  as- 
pects of  the  soul,  as  these  shall  be  in  need  of  light 
or  sustenance :  As  the  Spirit  of  God,  it  is  colored 
or  suffused  with  the  Father's  personality;  as  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  (Rom.  viii.,  9 ;  I  Peter  i.),  it  bears 
to  man  the  warm  love  of  the  Saviour;  as  the  Com- 
forter (John  xiv.,  1 6,  26),  it  carries  balm  to  the 
bruised  heart;  as  the  Spirit  of  truth  (John  xv., 
26;  also  xvi.,  13),  it  may  be  defined  as  the  pure 
white  light  of  intellectuality;  so  also  it  is  called 
the  Spirit  of  holiness,  of  grace,  of  wisdom,  of  might, 
of  counsel,  of  promise  and  of  prophecy;  and  named 
by  its  fruits,  it  is  called  a  spirit  of  love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith, 
meekness,  temperance  (Gal.  v.,  22,  23).  "But 
all  these  worketh  that  one  and  the  self-same 
spirit,  dividing  to  every  man  severally  as  he 
will." 

What  could  be  more  natural  than  to  look  upon 
grace,  or  the  inpouring  of  truthness,  as  a  higher, 
perhaps  the  highest,  power  of  that  same  infinite 
energy  whose  lower  powers  constitute  the  subject- 
matter  of  physics?  But  lest  it  be  thought  that 
Mormonism  reached  this  conclusion  from  a  further 
generalization  of  scientific  research,  it  needs  to  be 
said  that  Joseph  Smith  came  first  with  his  doctrine ; 
nor  was  he  ever  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the 
discoveries  of  physics  to  have  reached  it  in  any 


Spiritual  Forces  205 

other  way.  The  law  of  the  conservation  of 
energy,  on  which  the  interrelation  of  cosmic 
forces  is  predicated,  was  announced  by  F.  K. 
Mohr  in  1837 ;  the  revelation  on  which  the  above 
conclusion  is  based  was  given  to  Joseph  Smith  in 
1833.*  Furthermore,  it  is  doubtful  whether  one 
Latter-day  Saint  in  ten  is  aware  to-day  of  the  co- 
incidence between  science  and  revelation  above 
pointed  out. 

But  we  may  come  into  yet  closer  touch  with  the 
nature  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  its  operation  on  the 
heart  and  mind  of  man.  As  our  Father  in 
heaven,  who  conditions  this  medium  of  grace  so 
that  it  shall  transmit  His  mind  and  will,  is  a  per- 
sonal being;  and  as  man,  whose  soul  is  touched 
and  stirred  by  grace,  is  equally  a  personal  being, 
it  will  be  seen  that  coming  into  communion  with 
God  is  purely  a  case  of  divine  telepathy, — if  I  may 
use  a  scientific  term  for  so  sacred  a  relation.  And 
if,  now,  we  enlarge  our  executive  conception  of 
God  so  as  to  include  not  only  our  Father  in 
heaven  but  Jesus  Christ  and  all  the  hosts  that 
make  up  the  working  organization  of  Divine 
Authority, — including  also  our  guardian  angels, 
as  representatives  of  God  nearest  to  man, — all 
using  the  Holy  Ghost  as  a  medium;  and  then 
consider  man  en  rapport  with  whatever  part  of 
this  divine  executive  personnel  that  his  life  may 
need, —  we  shall  be  ready  to  conceive  a  sys- 
tem of  heavenly  communication  beside  which  all 
1  See  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Section  §8;  7-13. 


206      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

telegraphic  systems,  wireless  or  otherwise,  are 
crude  in  the  extreme. 

For  whereas  these  latter,  being  mere  mechanical 
contrivances,  can  convey  only  the  signs  of  ideas; 
the  other  system,  being  organically  related  to 
spiritually  organized  intelligences,  and  having  for 
receiver  and  transmitter  the  quivering  soul  itself, 
can  send  through  the  eternal  ether,  not  mere 
clumsy  symbols,  which  may  or  may  not  yield 
their  content,  but  the  naked,  unclothed  thoughts 
and  emotions  themselves,  —  truthness  both  in 
idea  and  in  feeling, — which  shall  leave  no  room 
for  the  spectres  of  doubt,  nor  fail  to  give  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  patience,  fortitude,  or 
whatever  other  virtue  or  power  the  soul  may  be 
in  need  of. 

Such  is  the  capability  of  the  system,  and  such  is 
probably  the  use  made  of  it  in  the  common- 
wealth of  heaven ;  man,  however,  partakes  of  its 
perfect  communion  only  to  the  extent  that  he  can, 
through  faith  and  diligence,  elevate  his  life  into 
the  sphere  of  its  influence.  Theoretically  it  is  a 
perfect  guide  to  every  man  who  has  made  coven- 
ants with  God ;  practically  it  can  guide  him  only 
as  his  mind  is  in  harmony  with  the  mind  of  God. 
Faith  must  consequently  open  the  door  to  it,  and 
faith,  be  it  remembered,  is  dependent  upon  will. 
Moreover,  a  life  of  undeviating  truth, — that  is,  a 
life  of  repentance,  a  life  devoted  to  carrying  out 
the  ideals  which  grace  progressively  brings  to 
man, — is  the  only  condition  on  which  it  will  re- 


Spiritual  Forces  207 

main  with  him.  It  is  therefore  at  once  the  means 
and  the  reward  of  perfect  individual  freedom. 

It  is  at  this  point,  perhaps,  that  we  shall  best  be 
able  to  understand  the  philosophy  of  prayer.  The 
notion  that  divine  worship  is  for  the  glorification 
of  God  has  for  its  correlative  the  idea  that  God 
is  supreme-by-will,  rather  than  supreme-by-law; 
also  that  he  loves  flattery  and  adulation,  like  some 
vain  earthly  monarch  of  the  Alexander-type.  If 
now  we  remember, — what  must  surely  be  the 
truth, — that  selfishness  is  at  a  minimum  and 
altruism  at  a  maximum  with  God,  we  must  re- 
adjust this  notion  respecting  the  object  of  divine 
worship.  Somehow,  all  the  good  of  it,  all  the 
glory  of  it,  must  accrue  to  him  who  worships; 
while  the  joy  experienced  by  Him  who  is  wor- 
shipped, can  be  nothing  else  than  the  pure  joy  of 
knowing  that  His  children  are  doing  the  one  thing 
that  shall  most  quickly  advance  them  toward  their 
salvation.  For  it  is  by  prayer  that  we  come  into 
communion  with  God,  and  so  open  the  channel  of 
that  divine  telepathy  whence  the  riches  of  grace 
can  flow  into  our  souls  to  the  full  extent  of  their 
capacity;  and  as  the  grace  of  God  is  the  only 
means  of  our  progressive  spiritual  evolution,  so 
accordingly  should  we  value  prayer,  the  means 
whereby  we  may  attain  it. 

But  is  it  enough  merely  to  feel  the  spirit  of 
worship  and  keep  silent,  as  some  Christian  liberal- 
ists  teach?  The  acorn  no  doubt  swells  with 
ecstatic  sensations  of  life,  but  still  it  goes  on  to 


2o8       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

sprout ;  the  rosebud  may  feel,  instinct  within  it,  a 
spirit  of  beauty  and  fragrance,  but  it  does  not  for 
that  reason  fail  to  bloom.  Should  either  of  these 
organisms  refuse  to  express  itself,  it  must  die  ere 
it  is  born.  So  also  of  the  spirit  of  prayer :  he  who 
will  not  voice  his  love  of  God  and  love  of  man, 
must  inevitably  smother  the  noble  impulse  in  the 
darkness  of  his  own  bosom;  for,  like  the  plants, 
man  is  a  creature  of  evolution,  and  his  psychic 
life,  being  the  main  part  of  the  man  himself,  must 
evolve — come  out  from  the  darkness  of  his  inner 
being — in  word  and  deed,  if  it  is  to  live  at  all. 

Divine  worship,  being  thus  a  condition  of  grace, 
is  consequently  a  conditon  of  salvation ;  but  such 
worship  is  far  from  being  adoration,  which  centres 
in  and  is  addressed  merely  to  persons.  On  the 
contrary,  the  components  of  true  worship  are 
reverence  for  law,  as  incarnated  in  God ;  love  for 
our  Father  in  heaven,  as  a  divine  Parent;  fra- 
ternal sympathy  and  companionship  with  the 
workers;  and  loyalty  to  the  leadership  of  Jesus 
Christ.  To  feel  these  emotions  is  to  have  the 
spirit  of  prayer ;  to  express  them  in  word,  or  song, 
or  deed,  or  tears  of  joy,  is  to  place  oneself  en 
rapport  with  God  and  the  workers,  and  so  be  fitted 
to  receive  grace  upon  grace,  until  the  soul  shall 
become  perfect  as  its  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect. 

It  is  only  by  virtue  of  man's  being  able  so  to  get 
into  communion  with  God,  that  we  have  the  holy 
Scriptures.  It  becomes  interesting,  therefore,  to 
consider  the  various  effects  of  this  superior  light 


Spiritual  Forces  209 

as  reflected  in  the  words  and  works  of  mankind. 
That  is  a  very  narrow  conception  of  God's  provi- 
dence which  denies  inspiration  to  any  other  than 
the  sacred  writings.  These  are  expressions  of 
God's  truth  in  the  social,  moral,  and  spiritual 
world,  truly  enough ;  but  is  it  thinkable  that  the 
equal  Father  of  all  would  confine  the  light  of  His 
word  to  one  narrow  people? 

If  the  Bible  is  more  perfectly  a  revelation  of 
God  than  is  the  Koran,  it  is  not  because  God  was 
partial  to  the  Jews ;  it  was  doubtless  owing  to  the 
fact  that  Israel  was  fitted  for  purer  light,  no  less 
also  than  that  its  prophets  were  purer  mediums. 
But  the  Bible,  in  its  turn,  is  less  perfectly  a  revela- 
tion of  the  divine  word  than  are  the  Book  of 
Mormon  and  Doctrine  and  Covenants;  represent- 
ing as  these  later  scriptures  do,  the  revelations  of 
God  to  a  dispensation  capable  of  more  exacting 
truth  ideals. 

The  mystifying  element  in  holy  writ  disappears 
largely  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  Scripture  is  at 
best  a  compromise  between  the  pure  white  light 
of  absolute  truth,  and  the  more  or  less  colored 
personal  medium  through  which,  perforce,  it  must 
shine  for  man.  Sometimes  the  personal  element 
all  but  predominates,  as  when  Paul  confessed,  on 
one  or  two  occasions,  that  it  was  he,  not  the 
spirit,  which  wrote  a  particular  doctrine.  Again, 
passages  occur  in  which  the  medium  seems  almost 
completely  in  abeyance;  as  when,  after  "Thus 
saith  the  Lord,"  the  words  are  directly  those  of 


210      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

God  or  Jesus  Christ.  Between  these  extremes  all 
Scripture  evidently  oscillates. 

But  we  need  definite  terms  to  describe  degrees 
of  infallibility  in  Scripture.  When  grace  gives 
merely  that  sensation  of  truthness  which  satisfies 
for  conviction,  it  ought  to  be  called  inspiration; 
but  when  the  divine  telepathy  brings  into  con- 
sciousness, not  only  the  truth  effluence,  but  the 
very  objects  giving  off  that  effluence  (i.  e.t  as 
when  the  mind  has  an  open  vision,  or  hears  the 
voice  of  its  divine  correspondent),  it  ought  to  be 
called  revelation.  Scripture  is  made  up  of  both 
these  forms  of  truth-expression;  from  the  crude 
product  of  mere  human  judgment,  faintly  tinged 
— or  perhaps  untinged  at  all — with  the  light  of 
heaven,  up  through  the  varying  translucency  of 
inspiration  to  the  transparency  of  revelation;  a 
translucency  and  transparency  which,  however, 
do  not  necessarily  appear,  save  to  him  whose  soul 
is  lighted  by  grace. 

But  to  modify  in  such  a  way  as  this  the  cast- 
iron  mediaeval  doctrine  of  the  absolute  infallibility 
of  Scripture — will  it  not  overthrow  one  of  the 
very  pillars  of  religion?  Perhaps — if  the  religion 
be  of  a  kind  supported  by  pillars ;  that  is  to  say, 
if  it  be  of  a  mechanical  order.  But  the  social 
evolution  of  the  race  is  hastened  in  the  ratio  that 
such  religions  fall;  for  it  is  this  very  dogma  of 
scriptural  finality,  this  absolutism  of  interpreta- 
tion, this  notion  that  revelation  is  all  in  and  cured, 
once  for  all, — that  has  stranded  modern  Christian 


Spiritual  Forces  211 

sects  just  where  Egyptian  art  was  stranded  for  a 
similar  reason. 

Let  us  realize  that  God  never  intended  the  life 
and  light  of  inspiration  to  be  conserved  by  means 
of  the  dovetailing,  glue- jointing  interpretations 
of  theological  carpentry, — such  as  make  up  the 
manifold  creeds  and  confessions  of  modern  sect- 
ism.  Scriptural  texts  are  rather  to  be  regarded 
in  the  ligh$  of  things  planted  and  growing :  capa- 
ble of  indefinite  organic  expansion  and  applica- 
tion, but  sure  to  lose  their  spirit  the  moment  you 
cut  and  fit  them  into  a  mechanical  theology. 

"The  things  of  God,"  says  Paul,  "knoweth  no 
man  but  the  spirit  of  God."  Grace  is  the  only 
possible  interpreter  of  grace, — but  it  is  a  very 
safe  interpreter.  "If  thine  eye  be  single,"  says 
our  Saviour,  "  thy  body  shall  be  full  of  light."  To 
the  extent  that  this  light  of  grace  is  within  us,  to 
that  extent  shall  we  be  able  to  assimilate  the  light 
of  revelation,  whether  in  nature  or  in  Scripture; 
and  if  we  attempt  to  build  a  theological  system 
by  any  other  impulse  than  this  light  gives,  the 
structure  will  be  a  mere  mechanical  contrivance, 
—a  wooden  something  made  up  of  dead  works,— 
not  a  living,  growing  organism. 

Nor  need  we  feel  called  upon  to  stultify  our- 
selves by  assuming  that  any  Scripture,  coming 
as  it  does  from  God,  must  necessarily  be  per- 
fect. For  if  the  revelation  of  vegetable  life  in 
yonder  tree,  in  the  fashioning  of  which  God  has 
had  untrammelled  sway,  is  nevertheless,  by  the 


212       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

interaction  of  natural  forces,  far  from  perfect,  why 
should  we  expect  a  revelation  of  psychic  life  to  be 
faultless,  trammelled  as  it  must  be,  by  the  inertia 
of  a  will  negatively  as  free  as  God's  own,  and 
reflected  from  a  mind  very  rudimentary  in  its 
development?  Nevertheless,  as  we  perceive  the 
principle  of  life  in  the  tree  to  be  perfect,  so  by  the 
eye  of  grace  shall  we  be  able  to  catch  glimpses  of 
the  perfect  mind  of  God,  behind  and  beneath  the 
imperfect  form  of  its  expression  in  Scripture. 

Coming  back  now  to  the  central  theme  of  this 
chapter,  that  grace  or  unbroken  communion  with 
God  is  the  only  means  of  psychic  evolution,  the 
question  arises,  In  what  avenues  of  life  may  we 
expect  grace  to  be  our  guide?  This,  as  will  be 
seen,  is  only  a  restatement  of  the  question  raised 
in  the  second  chapter,  viz.,  as  to  how  far  man 
must  be  guided  by  relative  truth,  the  result  of 
his  own  generalizations,  and  how  far  he  may  ex- 
pect guidance  by  absolute  truth,  the  result  of 
God's  generalizations.  Will  grace  or  absolute 
truth  assist  him  in  prospecting  for  gold  and  silver? 
In  winning  an  election?  In  building  a  railroad? 
In  settling  the  question  whether  Bacon  wrote 
Shakespeare's  plays? 

The  answer,  though  necessarily  general,  is  un- 
equivocal. Since  after  making  covenants  with 
God,  grace  is  the  medium  of  man's  evolution,  he 
will  have  an  unbroken  stream  of  it  to  the  extent 
that  he  responds  successively  to  what  God  would 
have  him  do  next ;  in  other  words,  to  the  extent 


Spiritual  Forces  213 

that  he  acts  on  Christ's  maxim:  "Thy  will  not 
mine  be  done."  This  may  often  be  so  primitive  a 
thing  as  building  a  log  school-house,  or  digging  a 
canal,  or  even  so  unspiritual  a  thing  as  running 
for  Congress, — for  God  is  in  all  the  affairs  of  men, 
whether  great  or  small,  which  have  to  do  with  the 
evolution  of  the  human  race.  On  the  other  hand, 
grace  will  fail  him,  and  he  will  have  to  move  for- 
ward by  mere  human  light,  to  the  extent  that  he 
switches  off — as  he  is  free  to  do — on  schemes  not 
in  the  direct  line  of  God's  purposes, — schemes  not 
necessarily  wrong — simply  desultory,  out  of  place, 
and  therefore  wasteful. 

By  what  other  policy  than  this  could  God 
bring  into  one  grand,  final,  consummate  unity,  all 
the  centrifugal  tendencies  of  His  children?  Christ's 
mission  is  an  example  of  a  life  guided  at  all  points 
by  absolute  truth,  or  the  mind  of  God;  but  it  is 
easy  to  conceive,  though  hard  to  believe,  Him 
turning  aside  for  mere  earthly  fame;  in  which 
case  He  would  have  been  left  to  His  own  innate 
powers  and  on  equal  footing  with  other  men  of 
similar  talent. 

As  to  knowing  when  one  is  on  the  individual 
quest  and  when  on  the  Lord's  quest,  it  is  not  a 
matter  that  can  be  settled  by  rules  of  procedure. 
Grace  is  the  sole  interpreter  of  grace.  He  who 
lives  so  near  to  heaven  that  his  life  is  enveloped 
in  heaven's  halo,  will  know  when  he  leaves  the 
Master's  service  for  his  own;  and  no  sophistry, 
however  specious,  about  end  and  means,  will  sue- 


214      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

ceed  in  blinding  his  soul  to  the  withdrawal  of  the 
divine  light,  and  as  a  consequence  leaving  unillu- 
mined  his  mere  earth-born  wisdom.  However, 
the  object  of  departure, — wealth,  position,  fame, 
—may  throw  around  itself  such  a  glamour  of 
goodness  and  justification  that  for  a  time, — per- 
haps, alas !  for  all  time — the  quest  will  be  followed 
to  the  very  cul  de  sac  of  its  barren  inconsequence. 

If,  when  that  point  has  been  reached,  the  soul 
has  any  truth  integrity  left,  it  will  exclaim  with 
Solomon,  "Vanity,  vanity,"  and  return  to  God's 
service ;  if  not,  it  will  continue  following  its  earth- 
ideals,  and,  in  lieu  of  real  joy,  go  on  flaunting  its 
apples  of  Sodom  in  order  to  squeeze  out  a  little 
counterfeit  happiness  from  the  envy  and  greed 
excited  in  the  eyes  outside  the  wall  of  its  own 
mundane  achievement. 

There  remains  then  the  question  of  how  man 
comes  into  possession  of  grace;  not  as  of  a  light 
loaned  him  previous  to  conversion,  to  guide  him 
into  the  path  of  truth ;  but  as  of  a  lamp,  his  very 
own,  to  keep  filled,  to  trim,  and  to  use  wherever 
the  service  of  the  Master  shall  lead  him.  Mani- 
festly such  a  dispensation  of  the  gift  and  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  would  be  a  conscious  dispensa- 
tion, and  must,  therefore,  like  forgiveness  and  the 
covenant  of  baptism,  involve  a  token.  That 
token  is  the  laying  on  of  hands  and  the  conferring 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ ;  for 
so  has  God  ordained. 

Note  that  here,  too,  symbolism  plays  an  im- 


Spiritual  Forces  215 

port  ant  part.  The  person  receiving  this  ordinance, 
indicates  by  his  attitude  that  he  has  subordinated 
his  will  to  the  authority  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
of  which  presently  he  shall  become  a  free  citizen ; 
the  person  laying  on  hands  acts  the  part  of  God, 
who  alone  has  authority  to  confer  the  right  to  re- 
ceive the  gift  of  grace.  He  must  therefore  be  a 
man  divinely  commissioned,  if  the  ordinance  is  to 
be  anything  else  than  a  solemn  mockery.  The 
Holy  Ghost  so  conferred  upon  man  becomes  the 
servant  of  his  will  to  the  extent  that  he  is  the  ser- 
vant of  God's  will.  It  is  the  medium  by  which 
he  shall  work  out  his  own  salvation. 


CHAPTER  XX 

WHAT  INTELLIGENT   BEINGS   WILL  DO   IN  THE 
HEREAFTER 

THE  first  and  chief  element  in  the  happiness  of 
heaven  [says  a  Catholic  writer] l  will  consist  in  the 
beatific  vision;  that  is, in  seeing  God  face  to  face,  un- 
veiled as  He  really  is.  The  "face  to  face,"  however, 
is  literally  true  only  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  who 
ascended  into  heaven  with  His  sacred  body.  Other- 
wise, as  God  is  a  spirit,  He  has  no  body  and  conse- 
quently no  face.  In  paradise,  spirits  (angels  and  our 
souls)  see  spirits.  We  shall  see  God  and  angels,  not 
with  the  eye  of  the  body,  nor  by  the  vibration  of 
cosmic  light,  but  with  the  spiritual  eye,  with  the 
soul's  intellectual  perception,  elevated  by  a  super- 
natural influx  from  God.  As  in  ordinary  vision  the 
image  of  an  object  is  impressed  on  the  retina,  so  in 
the  beatific  vision,  the  perfect  image  of  God  will  be 
reflected  on  the  soul,  impressing  on  it  a  vivid  repre- 
sentation of  Him.  We  shall  thus  enjoy  an  intellectual 
possession  of  Him,  very  different  from  our  possession 
of  earthly  things. 

This  doctrine  of  the  beatific  vision  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  the  Catholic  Church.  Here  is 

1  The  Rev.  C.  Van  Der  Donckt  of  Pocatello,  Idaho,  in  the 
Improvement  Era,  August,  1902,  Deseret  News  Co.,  Salt  Lake 
City. 

216 


Man's  Future  Occupation        217 

the  way  in  which  a  noted  Presbyterian  delivered 
himself  on  this  theme : 

The  question  is  often  asked,  "What  shall  we  do 
when  we  get  to  heaven?  Wherein  will  consist  our 
happiness?"  I  shall  answer  this  question  for  myself. 
When  I  get  to  heaven,  I  shall  spend  the  first  five  mil- 
lion years  of  my  life  in  gazing  upon  the  face  of  God; 
then  if  my  wife  is  near  I  shall  turn  and  look  at  her  for 
five  minutes.  Then  I  shall  gaze  upon  the  glory  of 
God  again  for  a  million  million  years;  and  when  the 
longing  of  my  eyes  shall  have  been  satisfied,  and  my 
soul  is  suffused  with  the  beatific  vision,  I  shall  snatch 
up  my  harp  and  begin  playing. 

Will  this  reverend  gentleman  go  on  playing 
during  the  rest  of  eternity?  Or  will  he  occasion- 
ally take  a  breathing  spell,  to  gaze  again  for  a  few 
odd  hundred  million  years  ?  Perhaps,  too,  his  wife 
will  have  become  relatively  dearer  by  that  time, 
and  so  will  furnish  another  means  of  relieving  the 
eternal  ennui.  I  fully  understand,  as  did  the 
audience,  no  doubt,  that  he  meant  no  personal 
slight  nor  any  undervaluation  of  the  conjugal  tie ; 
it  was  merely  a  case  of  not  loving  his  wife  less,  but 
of  loving  the  Lord  more. 

I  realize,  too,  that  this  extravagant  forecast  of 
heaven  is  not  to  be  taken  as  the  best  and  most 
rational  exposition  that  could  be  made  of  the 
"beatific -vision"  idea  of  eternal  bliss.  But  after 
all  allowance  has  been  made  for  hyperbole  and 
religious  hallucination,  what  is  there  in  the  notion 


218      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

to  commend  it  even  faintly  to  common-sense? 
Wherein  does  it  touch  the  experience  of  the  race, 
even  by  the  remotest  analogy  ?  Is  there  anything 
in  life  to  suggest  that  one  can  gaze  with  rapture 
even  for  a  single  hour?  How  then  dare  we  com- 
mit our  hope  of  eternity  to  such  a  chimera  of 
fancy? 

On  the  other  hand,  what  kind  of  being  must 
God  be,  if  we  suppose  Him  to  get  pleasure  from 
having  a  billion  billion  eyes, — the  animated  per- 
iphery of  a  hollow  glory  sphere  with  God  as  its 
centre, — glued  upon  Him  from  all  sides  for  mil- 
lions of  years  at  a  stretch?  And  then  to  have  a 
certain  quadrant  of  the  enraptured  gazers  sud- 
denly seized  with  harp-madness  for  other  millions 
of  years!  Surely  He  will  need  the  full  measure 
of  His  infinite  patience  and  long  suffering! 

Such  a  notion  of  heavenly  bliss  on  the  one  side, 
and  of  God  on  the  other,  are  the  outcome  of  the 
mediaeval  conceptions  of  the  earth  as  a  place 
cursed,  of  mortal  life  as  penal  servitude,  of  work 
as  the  penalty  of  sin,  and  of  God  as  a  supreme-by- 
will  Being  who  was  to  be  placated  by  much  pray- 
ing and  singing.  Naturally,  therefore,  heaven 
would  be  figured  in  a  manner  antipodal  to  all  ex- 
periences here  below.  Instead  of  the  earth  cursed, 
an  ethereal  heaven  is  imagined  somewhere  in  space, 
to  which  the  soul  flies  at  death;  instead  of  the 
toil  and  labor  of  earth-life,  "there  is  sweet  rest  in 
heaven," — an  eternity  of  idleness;  and  for  the 


Man's  Future  Occupation         219 

praying  and  singing  exacted  in  the  world,  there  is 
substituted  the  eternal  program  of  gazing  and 
harping  in  the  world  to  come. 

How  these  iridescent  soap-bubbles  blown  by 
religion-makers  break  and  vanish  with  the  first 
ray  of  common  sense!  "This  is  life  eternal"  said 
the  Saviour,  truly  enough,  "  that  they  might  know 
thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom 
thou  hast  sent."  But  what  a  piece  of  fatuous 
reasoning,  to  conclude  that  knowing  God  and 
Christ  is  a  matter  of  idle  gazing  upon  them  for 
eternity.  As  well  expect  a  clam  to  comprehend 
the  unity  of  the  solar  system  by  opening  its  mud- 
valve  to  the  sun's  rays! 

What  the  Saviour  said  is  absolutely  and  philo- 
sophically true :  eternal  life  is  in  us  to  the  extent 
that  we  know  God  and  Jesus  Christ.  But  know- 
ing our  Father  in  heaven  is  nothing  less  than  be- 
coming like  Him.  Knowing  law  is  knowing  God 
objectively;  living  in  harmony  with  law  is  know- 
ing God  subjectively.  The  first  gives  knowledge, 
the  second,  power ;  and  the  end  of  such  a  course 
of  successive  knowing  and  doing  is  nothing  less 
than  omniscience,  or  perfect  power  to  know,  and 
omnipotence,  or  perfect  power  to  do.  Could  any- 
thing less  than  these  powers  comprehend  God? 
Grace  is  thus  seen  to  be  the  progressive  medium 
of  knowing  God :  the  light  by  which  we  see  law, 
the  power  by  which  our  feeble  wills  are  re-enforced 
to  the  living  of  law. 

Now,  as  man  enters  the  spirit  world  knowing 


220       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

God  no  further  than  he  knew  Him  when  he  said 
good-by  to  mortality,  it  follows  that  he  has  no 
time  to  idle  away  with  the  "beatific  vision,"  if  he 
values  eternal  life;  or  even  if  he  could  see  God 
objectively,  he  would  be  able  to  assimilate  Him 
only  to  the  extent  that  he  has  Godliness  within 
him ;  or,  to  use  the  phrase  of  psychology,  only  to 
the  extent  of  his  apperceptive  material.  So  far, 
therefore,  from  escaping  work  by  escaping  from 
the  world,  he  must  greatly  increase  his  diligence, 
if  he  desires  to  be  saved. 

It  is  on  the  basis  of  this  thought  that  Mormon- 
ism  predicates  an  eternity  of  scientific  endeavor 
for  man;  a  future  life  devoted  progressively  to 
the  apprehension  of  and  obedience  to  law,  till  all 
the  secrets  of  creation  are  known,  and  the  un- 
trammelled power  to  create  has  been  attained. 
Such  is  the  glorious  career  that  lies  before  the 
workers. 

The  nature  of  this  future  work,  as  also  the  order 
in  which  it  will  come,  will  of  course  be  determined 
by  divine  wisdom.  Some  speculations  in  relation 
to  it  may,  however,  be  indulged  in  with  profit. 
Since  God  is  in  all  the  processes  of  nature,  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  there  are  unnumbered 
posts  of  minor  responsibility  where  intelligence 
such  as  ours  can  serve  His  purposes,  and,  by 
serving,  help  to  attain  creative  perfection.  The 
mere  naming  of  such  a  possibility  flashes  before 
the  mind  opportunities  in  the  natural  world, — or, 
rather,  in  the  workshop  out  of  which  the  natural 


Man's  Future  Occupation         221 

world  grows — that  millions  of  years  could  not  ex- 
haust! What  nobler  conception  of  future  exist- 
ence could  there  possibly  be  than  this?  What 
life  more  filled  with  truth-surprises,  and  therefore 
with  the  very  essence  of  eternal  bliss? 

Next,  contemplate  the  world  of  art, — the  possi- 
bilities yet  undreamed  of  in  literature,  music, 
painting,  sculpture,  architecture,  and  similar  lines 
of  creation.  It  is  not  likely,  however,  that  such 
studies  will  be  carried  on  there  as  here — widely 
divorced  from  investigations  of  the  natural  forms 
whence  alone  they  can  draw  true  life  and  inspira- 
tion. Our  souls  will  probably  find,  in  these  ex- 
pressions of  art,  a  happy  means  of  overflow  for 
the  excess  harmonies  attained  in  the  study  of 
God's  world  and  works.  Nor  is  it  likely  that  we 
shall  ever  evolve  beyond  the  susceptibilities  out 
of  which  art  grows,  and  to  which  it  ministers ;  for 
our  life  there  must  necessarily  resemble  our  life 
here.  The  "many  mansions"  mentioned  by  our 
Saviour  is  suggestive  of  this,  as  is  also  the  Eternal 
City  described  by  John  the  Revelator.  It  must 
be  self-evident  also  that  the  art  products  which 
shall  be  part  of  our  environment  in  heaven  will  be 
the  work  of  our  own  hands,  just  as  they  are  here. 
To  suppose  our  souls  unrelated  to  them  by  creation 
is  nothing  less  than  to  say  we  are  equally  unre- 
lated to  them  by  appreciation:  for  he  who  does 
not  make,  is  but  poorly  fitted  to  enjoy. 

There  is  next  the  social  world,  involving  the 
problem  of  learning  to  live  in  perfect  harmony 


222      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

with  our  superiors,  our  equals,  and  our  inferiors; 
a  problem  that  has  hardly  approached  solution 
as  yet  among  mankind.  It  is  a  question  that  in- 
volves the  co-ordination  and  subordination  of  the 
individual  in  a  thousand  complex  relationships, 
and  always  along  lines  both  of  justice  and  of  love. 
Surely  there  is  work  of  the  highest  order  of  soci- 
ology in  the  hereafter ;  for  what  is  our  noblest  con- 
ception of  heaven  but  that  of  a  place  of  perfect 
social  harmony? 

And  we  must  create  the  heaven  we  expect  to 
enjoy — else  how  could  we  enjoy  it?  God  can  aid 
us  in  this  all-important  work,  but  He  cannot  do  it 
for  us;  for  if  He  should  arbitrarily  co-ordinate 
and  subordinate  us,  would  the  result  be  a  state  of 
bliss  without  alloy?  Or  should  we  chafe,  as  we 
do  here,  under  God's  appointment?  And,  being 
free,  how  long  should  we  stay  in  the  niche  pre- 
pared for  us  by  infinite  wisdom?  The  fact  is, 
heaven  becomes  impossible  on  any  other  lines  than 
the  social  co-ordinating  and  subordinating  evolu- 
tion of  its  inhabitants  under  the  influence  of  grace. 

It  is  for  this  reason,  no  doubt,  that  the  first 
serious  work  demanded  of  him  who  has  entered 
into  covenant  with  God,  is  to  accustom  himself  to 
the  broad  lines  of  heavenly  government  as  fore- 
shadowed in  the  organization  of  the  Church ;  and 
he  who  cannot  curb  his  propensity  to  fly  off  at 
tangents  in  respect  of  divine  authority  upon  the 
earth,  demonstrates,  above  all  things,  his  unfitness 
to  be  placed  among  the  workers  in  heaven. 


Man's  Future  Occupation         223 

Nor  would  I  have  the  reader  believe  that  in  the 
Church  government,  which  thus  marks  out  crudely 
the  order  of  heaven,  there  is  coercion  of  any  man's 
free  will.  Such  a  policy  would  defeat  itself,— 
making  at  once  both  tyrants  and  slaves,  neither 
of  whom  could  exist  a  day  in  heaven.  This  fact 
will  be  made  entirely  clear  in  a  companion  vol- 
ume, The  Social  Aspect  of  Mormonism,  wherein  I 
hope  to  show  forth  a  system  of  divine  govern- 
ment entirely  worthy  the  authorship  of  God  who 
revealed  it. 

Now,  while  Latter-day  Saints  thus  look  forward 
to  a  thoroughly  socialized  future,  a  future  made 
up  of  physical,  mental,  moral,  and  spiritual  ac- 
tivities along  lines  the  beginnings  of  which  are 
already  laid  in  life,  they  do  not  by  any  means 
surrender  the  idea  of  coming  into  the  presence  of 
holy  angels,  the  Saviour,  and  the  eternal  Father. 
But  they  expect  to  meet  these  exalted  beings,  not 
in  idle,  deadlock,  convention-ecstacies  protracted 
to  millions  of  years,  but  in  the  sensible,  rational 
way  in  which  workers  meet  leaders.  Moreover, 
the  presence  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  with  any 
man  does  not  depend  upon  sight  nor  any  other 
physical  sense ;  for  the  Holy  Ghost  is  instinct  with 
the  glory  of  their  personalities,  and  whoever  lives 
so  pure  a  life  as  to  be  filled  with  this  spirit,  dwells 
in  the  divine  presence  in  a  much  more  real  sense, 
than  if  he  jostled  with  a  million-million  other 
souls  in  the  endeavor  to  get  an  ocular  vision. 
Indeed,  it  is  pretty  safe  to  say  that  he  who  has  not 


224      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

thus  lived  in  their  presence  on  earth,  need  never 
expect  to  get  the  face-to-face  vision  in  heaven. 

As  to  the  natural  epochs  in  the  future  life,  two 
only  have  been  indicated  by  revelation.  The 
first  is  that  of  the  spirit-world,  occupying  the  time 
between  death  and  the  resurrection ;  the  second  is 
the  life  after  the  resurrection.  Perhaps  it  will  not 
be  out  of  place  to  discuss  briefly  these  two  states 
and  the  transitions  which  lead  to  them. 

To  understand  the  nature  of  the  world  of 
spirits,  it  is  necessary  to  remember  the  dual  nature 
of  all  animated  beings.  God  first  created  things 
spiritually,  and  then  naturally,  so  we  are  told  in 
Genesis.  The  negative  testimony  of  all  experi- 
ence lends  credence  to  this  view  of  life ;  negative 
because  we  must  infer  the  presence  of  spirit  or 
life  in  the  living  from  the  fact  of  its  absence  in  the 
dead.  The  bird  in  yonder  tree,  for  instance,  is 
just  now  singing  and  flitting  about  by  reason  of  a 
power  beyond  reach  of  analysis.  Anon  the  gun 
of  the  collector  will  bring  it  fluttering  to  the 
ground;  only  half  of  it,  however,  to  be  quite 
exact;  for  that  which  enabled  it  to  sing  and  flit 
will  be  gone  forever.  So  of  all  living  things :  we 
are  ever  in  the  presence  of  spirit,  and  recognize  it 
by  a  thousand  happenings  to  be  inseparably  as- 
sociated with  life;  but  isolated  from  its  earthly 
counterpart,  it  eludes  every  known  scientific  power 
of  investigation. 

Assuming  then  that  everything  which  lives,— 
plant,  animal,  man — does  so  by  reason  of  a  spirit 


Man's  Future  Occupation         225 

which  is  either  life  itself  or  the  vehicle  of  life,  we 
reach  the  conclusion  that  the  spirit-world  is  right 
here,  bound  up  with  the  natural  world, — hidden 
away  in  it  as  sugar  is  in  water.  That  is  to  say, 
life  has  two  aspects,  an  outer,  which  is  mortal, 
and  an  inner,  which  is  spiritual.  This  conception 
is  well  illustrated  by  the  instantaneous  appear- 
ances and  disappearances  of  our  Saviour  after  His 
resurrection ;  showing  that  he  could  function  now 
in  the  spiritual,  now  in  the  natural,  world  with- 
out essential  change  of  location. 

If  it  be  accepted,  then,  that  the  spirit  world  is, 
in  flora,  fauna,  and  natural  topography,  the 
spiritual  counterpart  of  the  natural  world,  differ- 
ing only  perhaps  in  being  a  more  perfect  expres- 
sion of  the  divine  idea,  it  must  follow  that  the 
psychic  life  of  the  individual  will  go  on  uninter- 
rupted by  death.  Indeed,  it  is  doubtful  whether, 
on  awakening  in  that  next  world,  the  spirit  will  at 
first  be  aware  of  the  change,  so  familiar  will  the 
environments  seem.  Nor  is  there  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  contact  with  objects  in  the  new  world 
will  produce  reactions  relatively  different  from 
those  on  the  natural  plane.  It  will  only  be  by  a 
certain  ease  and  swiftness  of  movement,  and 
perhaps  by  the  absence  of  shams  and  make-be- 
lieves, that  the  fact  of  death,  or  transition  from 
mortal  life,  will  become  most  pronounced. 

Some  years  ago  I  had  occasion  to  admire  a 
clump  of  cedars  growing  under  the  spray  of 
the  Shoshone  Falls.  They  were  as  straight  as 


226      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

sunbeams  and  as  symmetrical  as  angels'  spears. 
At  first  I  wondered  how  the  Oregon  timber  cedar 
could  get  to  such  a  place ;  but  as  the  trees  graded 
upward  from  that  awful  chasm  by  natural  transi- 
tions on  the  mountain  side,  till  they  ended  in  the 
low,  crooked,  and  gnarled  species  so  common  to  the 
American  desert,  I  made  a  more  careful  examina- 
tion and  found  them  to  be  all  of  one  family.  Here 
was  food  for  reflection.  Who  could  have  dreamed 
that  God's  idea  of  the  scrub  cedar  was  so  beautiful ! 
Those  perfect  specimens,  perennially  tipped  with 
the  rainbow,  represent  spirit  cedars  completely 
expressed.  This,  then,  is  what  every  scrub  cedar 
would  be  were  its  inner  life  fully  evolved.  And  so 
of  all  other  dwarfed  vegetable  or  animal  forms. 

Then  I  thought  of  scrub  human  beings — the 
crippled,  the  stunted,  the  deformed,  in  mind  and 
body,  the  crooked,  gnarled,  half -cured  specimens 
that  cumber  the  deserts  of  life.  These,  too,  have 
fallen  short  of  God's  idea — short  of  the  full  ex- 
pression of  their  spiritual  stature.  What  then? 
When  they  return  to  the  spirit  world,  will  their 
deformities  go  with  them?  Will  the  deaf,  the 
dumb,  the  lame,  be  deaf,  dumb,  and  lame  there  as 
here? 

Hardly.  The  measure  of  truthness  in  their 
souls,  the  sum  total  of  their  spiritual  likeness  to 
God,  will  be  neither  increased  nor  decreased  by 
the  fact  of  death ;  but  there  seems  to  be  no  reason 
why  defects  peculiar  to  earth-life — defects  only 
incidentally  related  to  psychic  evolution — should 


Man's  Future  Occupation        227 

be  perpetuated  there.  The  spirit  counterpart 
of  the  withered  arm  will  not  be  withered  and 
shrunken.  In  form  and  outline  it  will  perhaps 
resemble  the  other;  only  in  texture  will  the  ed- 
ucated spiritual  arm  be  superior  to  that  which 
has  hung  limp  and  idle  during  earth-life.  But 
eternity  will  present  opportunities  without  end 
for  the  adjustment  of  all  such  inequalities. 

One  other  difference  of  man's  next  estate  has 
already  been  suggested.  If  there  is  one  more 
distinctively  characteristic  of  the  present  world 
than  any  other,  it  is  perhaps  the  opportunities  it 
affords  for  shams  and  artificialities.  It  is  as  if  the 
Lord  gave  man  a  covering  for  hypocrisy,  just  to 
make  love  of  truth  a  cosmic  virtue, — the  doing  of 
right  purely  for  right's  sake.  But  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  this  world's  multiform  refuge  of 
lies  will  be  left  among  the  grim  trophies  of  death 
and  hell;  souls  that  pass  on  will  be  as  naked  to 
truth  as  when  they  were  born.  As  Paul  says: 
"  Here  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  there  face  to 
face." 

In  virtue  of  what  principle,  then,  will  it  become 
impossible  to  hide  "  under  Gospel  colors,"  or  any 
other  colors,  "just  for  a  screen?"  In  virtue  of 
the  principle  of  soul-radiancy,  I  think.  The 
glory  of  God's  person  is  represented  as  brighter 
than  that  of  the  sun, — and  "the  glory  of  God  is 
intelligence."  When  the  angel  Moroni  appeared 
in  the  darkness  to  Joseph  Smith,  the  light  emanat- 
ing from  his  person  was  sufficient  to  illumine  the 


228      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

boy's  humble  chamber  as  brightly  as  at  noon-day. 
Accordingly,  we  may  infer  that  as  is  the  intelli- 
gence of  any  being,  so  is  the  radiancy  of  his  soul. 
"  Shining  raiment"  is  evidently  no  figure  of  speech 
in  descriptions  of  heaven.  By  contrast  what  must 
be  the  opacity  of  souls  doomed  to  hell ! 

This  fact — that  our  souls  will  be  radiant  accord- 
ing to  the  righteousness  of  God  in  them — will 
inevitably  lead  to  voluntary  classifications;  for 
"  Light  cleaveth  unto  light,  darkness  unto  dark- 
ness." Even  in  earth-life  this  tendency  is  already 
well-marked,  in  spite  of  our  facilities  for  shams 
and  make-believes.  There  it  will  be  pronounced. 
The  Scriptures  name  two  localities  in  the  spirit- 
world  ;  paradise,  where  spirits  dwell  that  have  ac- 
cepted Christ ;  and  hades,  a  prison  for  spirits  still 
in  darkness.  "To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in 
paradise,"  said  Jesus  to  the  repentant  thief;  He 
could  just  as  truly  have  said  to  the  other  male- 
factor, "To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  hades," 
for  he  visited  both  places  during  the  time  his  body 
lay  in  the  tomb ;  moreover,  from  the  latter  place, 
so  it  is  recorded,  He  "  led  captivity  captive  " — out 
of  purgatory  into  paradise. 

Hades  is  not  to  be  pictured  as  a  dungeon  where 
shrinking,  terror-stricken  souls  are  shut  in  by 
bolts  and  bars;  on  the  contrary,  spirits  go  there 
by  choice, — on  the  principle  that  men  choose 
darkness  rather  than  light  because  their  deeds  are 
evil.  Nor  could  you  drag  one  of  these  dark  or 
tawny  ones  into  paradise ;  any  more  than  you  can 


Man's  Future  Occupation         229 

drive  bats  into  the  glare  of  daylight.  If  Christ 
led  souls  out,  it  was  because  the  light  of  repent- 
ance had  first  given  them  the  radiancy  of  para- 
dise. Light  is  the  only  power  that  can  release 
from  the  bondage  of  sin.  Accordingly,  part  of 
that  future  life  of  altruism  which  awaits  the 
workers  will  be  to  carry  the  Gospel  light  into  these 
benighted  regions ;  ' '  till  every  knee  shall  bow,  and 
every  tongue  confess,  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ." 

A  few  words  now  respecting  the  resurrection 
and  this  chapter  must  close.  Very  little  that  is 
definite  has  been  revealed  on  this  subject;  other 
than  the  assurance  that  our  spirits  shall  eventually 
be  clothed  with  glorious  bodies  of  flesh  and  bone; 
bodies  as  palpable  to  the  sense  of  touch  as  was 
that  of  Christ,  when  he  bade  Thomas  feel  the  print 
of  the  nails  and  thrust  his  hand  into  his  Master's 
side.  "For  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as 
ye  see  me  have." 

How  is  it  to  be  accomplished?  Just  as  we  set 
aside  the  mechanical  conception  of  creation,  so 
we  may  safely  spiritualize  the  mechanical  notion 
that  graves  will  yawn  at  the  sound  of  a  trumpet. 
Unlike  man,  God  does  not  work  by  any  other  than 
organic  processes;  and  when  that  tremendous 
event  shall  have  been  accomplished,  we  shall  see 
that  the  principle  was  one  of  evolution,  and  as  in- 
evitable as  that  which  from  a  mere  microscopic 
cell  formed  the  natural  body.  Indeed,  could  the 
growth  of  a  resurrected  body  well  be  more  mar- 
vellous than  this? 


230      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Such  was  evidently  the  conception  of  Paul  when 
he  compared  death  and  the  resurrection  to  a  seed 
planted  and  reproducing  itself.  In  the  seed  was 
the  inherent  possibility  of  a  new  body,  but  it  had 
to  die  in  order  to  get  it.  It  was  not  the  old  body 
that  was  resuscitated.  This  gave  merely  the  po- 
tentiality to  draw  from  the  storehouse  of  na- 
ture a  new  body.  The  drawing  of  the  new  body 
was  the  process  of  changing  potentiality  into 
fact. 

It  will  probably  be  the  same  with  man.  The 
fact  of  having  lived  a  mortal  life,  if  only  for  an 
instant,  gives  the  spirit  the  potentiality  of  drawing 
to  itself  a  resurrected  body  when  the  time  shall  be 
ripe  for  it;  and  I  use  the  word  ripe  because,  the 
resurrection  being  a  potentiality,  the  time  for  its 
realization  will  manifestly  vary  according  to  the 
fitness  of  the  spirit  to  live  the  advanced  life  which 
the  new  estate  brings.  "First  Christ,  then  they 
who  are  Christ's,  at  his  coming,"  is  the  way  this 
thought  is  put  in  Scripture. 

Whether  the  body  so  organically  drawn  from 
the  storehouse  of  the  universe  will  be  composed 
of  matter  newly  compounded,  or  be  made  up  of 
atoms  so  definitely  individualized  by  the  old  body 
during  mortal  life  that  they  can  fit  into  no  other 
organism,  is  a  question  I  leave  to  men  who  love 
disputations  better  than  I  do.  The  Bible  would 
seem  to  favor  the  latter  idea;  but  the  subject 
is  practically  beyond  scientific  investigation,  and 
therefore  so  far  from  affecting  the  present  truth- 


Man's  Future  Occupation         231 

status  of  our  souls,  that  it  has  really  no  vital 
significance  whatever. 

Putting  resurrection  as  a  potentiality  of  the 
spirit,  disposes  of  that  multitude  of  perplexing 
questions,  as  to  whether  the  cripple  will  have  his 
deformed  body  again,  the  aged  their  decrepit 
frames,  the  young  their  immaturity,  and  so  on. 
Manifestly,  if  it  is  in  the  spirit  to  draw  a  body, 
then  the  body  drawn  will  be  of  the  exact  texture 
of  the  spirit  itself — glorious  or  otherwise  accord- 
ing to  its  own  radiancy ;  but  there  seems  no  good 
reason  why  the  imperfect  expressions — the  con- 
gestions— of  earth-life  should  be  repeated.  Per- 
haps in  the  case  of  infants,  the  bodies  resurrected, 
or  drawn  from  the  materials  of  the  universe,  will 
resemble  in  dimensions  those  laid  down;  since  it 
was  here  an  organic  process  which  death  inter- 
rupted; but  these  bodies  would  thereafter  as 
surely  grow  to  maturity  as  if  they  were  still  living 
on  the  earth-plane. 

Another  thought,  unavoidable  from  such  a  con- 
ception, is  that  resurrection  is  now  going  on,  and 
probably  has  been  since  the  days  of  the  Saviour; 
the  question  of  time  being  as  inevitably  subject 
to  law  as  any  other  event  in  God's  providence. 
Such,  at  any  rate,  is  a  common-sense  view  of  what 
is  at  best  an  extremely  speculative  subject;  and 
no  serious  disturbance  can  come  into  the  order  of 
our  lives  when  we  keep  within  hailing  distance  of 
common  sense. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

PHILOSOPHICAL  DIFFICULTIES  TO  THE  CONCEPT  OF 
A   PERSONAL   GOD 

IN  a  previous  chapter  the  proposition  was  laid 
down  that  Mormonism  is  a  transcendent  sys- 
tem of  evolution;  transcendent  because  it  not 
only  includes  and  thinks  into  line  the  facts  of 
scientific  evolution,  but  organizes  them  into  an 
endless  perspective,  both  as  to  the  past  and  as  to 
the  future.  This  claim,  it  is  hoped,  has  been  fully 
justified  by  the  foregoing  discussion.  For  the 
rest,  Mormonism  has  no  favors  to  ask,  no  conces- 
sions to  make,  in  respect  of  any  other  system  of 
thought ;  and  this  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  is 
an  organic  not  a  mechanical  religion.  Its  doc- 
trines do  not  hang  together  by  virtue  of  the  de- 
crees of  ecclesiastical  councils.  On  the  contrary, 
they  grow  out  of  each  other  as  naturally  as  the 
branches  and  leaves  of  a  tree;  for,  as  becomes  a 
living,  growing  organism,  religion  is  not  conceived 
by  Latter-day  Saints  as  something  superimposed 
upon  life,  nor  even  as  something  integrated  with 
life,  but  as  life  itself,  from  God's  point  of  view. 
Moreover,  Mormonism  has  no  cut-and-dried 
232 


Objections  Met  233 

limitations  of  social  growth  and  development  to 
defend;  so  far  from  this  being  the  case,  it  is 
pledged  by  one  of  its  articles  of  faith  to  accept  all 
truth,  irrespective  of  who  may  bring  it.  As  basic 
or  fundamental  doctrine  it  insists  on  only  one 
tenet,  viz.,  — in  the  words  of  Paul — "  Let  God  be 
true,  even  though  it  make  every  man  a  liar." 
This  is  only  a  concrete  way  of  placing  Truth 
above  conventionality;  for  the  "living  God"  to 
each  man  is  the  measure  of  truthness  within  him, 
however  it  came  there,  whether  from  sifting 
nature  or  opening  his  soul  to  revelation.  How 
else  can  God  live  in  our  lives?  And  God  can  be 
true  for  each  man  only  as  that  man  resolutely  lives 
his  ideals,  even,  if  need  be,  at  the  cost  of  his  life. 
A  distinguished  writer  has  said,  in  respect  of 
the  conventions  and  institutions  of  men,  that  the 
very  fact  of  their  having  existed  for  thousands  of 
years  is  the  foremost  reason  for  demanding  that 
they  demonstrate  their  right  to  exist  longer. 
Each  life,  so  far  from  being  shaped  and  moulded 
by  what  men  have  been  before,  should  be  the  im- 
mediate expression  of  the  kingdom  of  God  within 
it, — an  evolution  of  the  truth  ideals  implanted 
within  it  by  its  perception  and  generalization  of 
Law  or  divine  harmony.  "Come  out  of  Baby- 
lon" is  the  burden  of  Scripture.  This  is  possible 
only  by  shortening  the  train  of  sequences  in  our 
lives.  If  a  man  would  cut  loose  from  the  world, 
his  acts  must  spring  directly  out  of  his  interpreta- 
tion of  nature  and  the  intuitions  he  gets  direct 


234      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

from  nature's  God,  and  not  from  the  shams  and 
artificialities  of  convention.  Let  God  indeed  be 
true  for  every  man,  be  the  social  consequences  what 
they  may!  Let  history's  grim  claws  be  kept  off 
the  human  race. 

The  statement  of  this  basic  tenet  serves  also  to 
narrow  the  discussion  again  to  the  question,  What 
is  God?  Now,  it  is  inconceivable  that  any  lover 
of  truth  reading  the  foregoing  discussion  respect- 
ing the  psychic  evolution  of  man  should  not  wish 
with  all  his  heart  that  it  might  be  true.  Unfor- 
tunately, he  perceives  that  the  whole  beautiful 
system  depends  on  one  primal  fact,  that  God  is 
what  the  Bible  reveals  Him  to  be,  a  personal  being, 
the  perfected  man.  Destroy  this  concept,  and 
Mormonism  goes  down,  leaving  mankind  again  in 
spiritual  chaos ;  amid  a  wilderness  of  facts  without 
perspective;  knowing  neither  whence  we  came, 
why  we  are  here,  nor  whither  we  tend, — save  per- 
haps as  we  place  credence  in  the  speculations  of 
Buddha;  for  whatever  in  Christianity  definitely 
answers  any  of  these  categories  in  a  way  differ- 
ently from  the  answer  of  the  Hindoo  sage,  is  based 
upon  that  same  ultimate  premise,  however  much 
concealed  or  ignored  or  repudiated, — the  premise 
of  a  personal  God. 

Elsewhere  I  have  taken  the  ground  that  a  great 
mistake  was  made  when  science  overthrew  the 
personal  or  Christ-type  of  God ;  that  the  demands 
of  philosophy  for  the  Buddhistic  type — that  of 
a  universal  spiritual  essence — were  mistaken  de- 


Objections  Met  235 

mands.  I  did  not  intend,  by  any  means,  to  beg 
this  question ;  the  need  of  discussing  aspects  more 
immediately  urgent,  however,  led  me  to  dismiss 
the  subject  with  the  remark,  that  experience  being 
the  criterion  of  judgment  in  science,  mankind  are 
not  really  justified  in  postulating  any  other  type 
of  creative  intelligence  than  the  man-type;  for 
what  other  type  have  they  ever,  or  can  they  ever, 
come  into  relation  with? 

This  did  not  settle  the  question,  however,  as  I 
fully  realized  at  the  time;  and  the  opportunity 
has  now  come  for  entering  fully  and  frankly  into 
the  logical  difficulties  which  led  theologians  to 
give  up  the  "  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob" 
for  a  sort  of  Christianized  form  of  the  God  of 
Buddha. 

These  difficulties  at  first  sight  seem  all  but 
overwhelming;  nevertheless,  I  shall  proceed  to 
put  them  in  as  strong  and  vital  a  form  as  my 
antagonist  could  possibly  wish — satisfied,  as  I  am, 
that  they  are  not  insuperable.  But  my  antagonist 
ought,  by  the  by,  never  to  be  anyone  attributing 
Godhood  to  Jesus  Christ ;  for  if  the  Father  cannot 
hold  his  place  throughout  eternity  in  the  character 
of  a  personal  being,  no  more  can  the  Son ;  and  if 
the  Son  cannot,  how  can  we,  who  depend  upon  the 
Son  for  our  salvation?  Every  Christian  ought 
therefore  to  be  glad,  if  the  thesis  of  God's  person- 
ality can  be  sustained.  So  also  ought  every 
scientist ;  for  it  would  demonstrate,  even  in  analo- 
gies relating  to  this  highest  generalization  in  the 


236       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

realm  of  intelligence,  that  the  law  of  experience 
is  the  safest  guide  to  correct  reasoning. 

The  first  difficulty  relates  to  the  infinitude  of 
God.  The  Scriptures  reveal  the  fact  that  God  is 
infinite,  and  even  did  they  not,  a  moment's  re- 
flection must  make  the  fact  self-evident;  for  if 
the  universe  is  infinite, — and  we  cannot  think  it 
otherwise, — and  God  be  figured  even  as  simply 
co-equal  with  it,  He  also  must  be  infinite;  by 
how  much  more  then  must  He  be  possessed  of 
infinitude  when  we  postulate  Him  as  superior  to 
the  universe. 

But  to  be  infinite  is  to  be  unbounded,  unlimited, 
unconditioned.  How  then  can  infinitude  be  pre- 
dicated of  Jesus  Christ,  who,  as  we  know,  is  lim- 
ited as  to  form,  and  who  was  conditioned  by  birth, 
death,  and  resurrection?  And  if  not  to  the  Son, 
how  to  the  Father,  whom  we  postulate  to  be 
the  exact  prototype  of  the  Son?  It  would  seem 
impossible. 

Our  next  difficulty  turns  on  the  predication 
that  God  is  eternal.  This  fact  is  revealed  in  many 
passages  of  Scripture,  but  it  is  also  self-evident 
—being  only  another  statement,  indeed,  of  the 
notion  of  infinitude ;  for  if  the  universe  is  bound- 
less, it  must  be  so  equally  as  regards  both  time 
and  space;  and  therefore  God,  who  must  be 
thought  of  as  superior  to  the  universe,  cannot  be 
less  boundless  in  time  than  in  space.  In  other 
words,  He  must  be  eternal. 

But  to  be  eternal  is  to  have  neither  beginning 


Objections  Met  237 

nor  end.  Christ  evidently  had  a  beginning  in 
His  capacity  as  God,  for  the  relationship  of  Son 
itself  implies  not  only  a  beginning  of  organized 
life,  but  a  limitation  of  power;  and  although  He 
could  pray,  "Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  the 
glory  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was,"  and 
Paul  gives  evidence  of  this  same  pre-eminence  in 
heaven,  by  declaring  that  by  Him  and  through 
Him  the  worlds  were  made, — yet  had  He  things  to 
learn  in  mortal  life:  He  grew  in  stature  and  in 
wisdom,  was  made  perfect  through  suffering,  and 
finally  took  His  place  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high.  If  anything  therefore  seems 
fixed  and  certain  from  our  apprehension  of  His 
life  and  the  revelations  concerning  Him,  it  is  that 
His  Godhood  had  a  beginning.  But  since  God  is 
an  eternal  being,  how  could  Jesus  Christ  be  God? 
The  difficulty  applies  equally  to  the  Father; 
for  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  He  belongs  to  a  race 
which  gives  birth  to  sons,  yet  He  Himself  was  un- 
born; that  He  existed  from  out  the  depths  of 
eternity  creating  galaxies  of  worlds  without  num- 
ber, supremely  alone,  until  He  came  to  our  in- 
significant planet  and  to  the  year  A.D.  i,  when 
He  caused  to  be  born  a  being  like  Himself,  who 
became  co-equal  in  divine  power  and  glory? 
Mormonism  is  more  modest:  it  believes  that  the 
Father,  like  the  Son,  is  a  perfected  man;  or, 
to  quote  again  its  supreme  aphorism  of  psychic 
evolution,  "As  man  is,  God  once  was;  as  God  is, 
man  may  become." 


238      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

But  note  now  the  dilemma  when  we  oppose  to 
this  aphorism  the  absolute  and  irrevocable  de- 
mand of  reason,  that  God  must  be  eternal.  For, 
if  this  aphorism  be  true,  there  was  a  time  when 
our  Father  was  not  God.  Who  then  was  God? 
His  Father,  do  you  say?  We1l,  by  the  same 
necessity,  there  must  have  been  a  time  when  He, 
too,  was  not  God.  Who  then? 

This  brings  us  face  to  face  with  another  diffi- 
culty: there  is  but  one  God.  Reason  and  revela- 
tion alike  dec  are  this  fact ;  for  not  to  be  God  and 
Lord  alone  is  to  be  limited  and  conditioned  by 
some  other  power,  and  is  therefore  not  to  be  infi- 
nite. As  the  universe  is  one,  so  God,  the  psychic 
power  of  the  universe,  must  be  one.  But  if  the 
aphorism  above  quoted  be  true,  there  must  be  an 
infinite  number  of  beings  related  to  each  other  by 
sequence,  yet  all  reigning  co-ordinately  as  Gods. 

Let  not  the  Christian  be  too  swift,  however,  in 
disclaiming  belief  in  a  doctrine  apparently  so  pre- 
posterous, for  his  own  system  involves  at  least 
two  such  Gods,  the  Father  and  the  Son;  and 
whatever  reasoning  can  reconcile  the  unity  of 
God  with  the  Christian's  limited  polytheism,  can 
equally  reconcile  it  with  the  Mormon's  unlimited 
polytheism. 

But  pointing  out,  in  mere  terms  of  infinity,  the 
apparent  discrepancy  between  Jehovah,  the  "  God 
of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,"  and  that  infinite, 
eternal  One,  that  Being  without  bounds,  without 
limits,  without  conditions, — 


Objections  Met  239 

Whom  none  can  comprehend  and  none  explore, 
Who  fills  existence  with  himself  alone, 
Embracing  all,  supporting,  ruling  o'er 
Being  whom  we  call  God,  and  know  no  more. 


— a  mere  enumeration,  I  repeat,  in  abstract  terms, 
of  the  apparent  contradictions  between  the  God 
of  the  Bible  and  that  ultimate  source  of  being  and 
power  which  must  be  postulated  in  conceptions 
involving  the  universe  as  a  whole, — gives  the 
reader  but  very  faint  and  inadequate  notions  of 
the  real  difficulty  which  this  discussion  aims  to 
bridge  over.  Let  us  therefore  be  brave  enough 
to  approach  these  apparent  contradictions  in  a 
more  concrete  fashion. 

We  shall  do  well  to  examine  first  our  conception 
of  the  world  on  which  we  live.  It  is  a  real,  solid 
earth,  is  it  not?  The  stupendous  cliffs  rising, 
terrace  above  terrace,  on  three  sides  of  me  as  I 
write,  and  leaving  me  only  a  triangular  skyline, 
are  no  delusions  of  my  senses.  The  capstone  of 
yonder  peak  two  thousand  feet  above  me  has 
weight,  and  should  it  come  crashing  down  the 
gorge,  would  crush  all  living  things  in  its  path. 
The  pines  that  half  hide  the  seams  and  scars  on 
the  terrace  butments  and  make  a  sombre  fringe 
against  yonder  sunlit  cloud;  the  cascades  that 
thunder  down  three  separate  canyons  uniting 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  me,  after  making  a 
hundred  waterfalls  and  filling  the  gorge  with 
music;  the  woodpecker  hammering  into  yonder 


240      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

rotting  stump;  the  badger  lazily  crawling  up 
that  dusty  trail,  the  chipmonks  chattering  in  that 
pine  tree ;  the  spider  that  is  just  now  spinning  the 
rope  by  which  it  lowers  itself  from  the  roof  of  my 
cave;  the  snowbanks  on  the  opposite  mountain 
slope;  the  July  breeze  from  somewhere  above 
that  makes  me  put  on  my  overcoat;  and  Provo 
River,  a  half  mile  almost  perpendicularly  below 
me,  flowing  contentedly  at  last  after  its  million 
years  of  titanic  labor, — all  these  things  are  reali- 
ties, if  I  who  write  and  you  to  whom  I  write  are 
realities.  And  if  we  are  not,  then  nothing  mat- 
ters; Christian  Scientists  may  have  their  way, 
for  then,  like  the  rest  of  creation,  they,  too,  would 
be  delusions. 

The  point  I  wish  to  make  is  that  this  world  and 
all  things  in  it  that  appeal  to  the  senses  of  man  are 
real,  tangible  creations.  There  may  be  spiritual 
spheres,  astral  planes,  and  what  not,  in  the  uni- 
verse, for  its  mysteries  are  many  and  unfathom- 
able. What  we  should  not  forget  is,  that  there  is, 
—it  is  ridiculous  to  say  there  may  be, — a  real, 
solid,  tangible  world,  one  which  it  is  entirely  safe 
to  take  as  a  sample  of  God's  work  as  Creator. 
Here,  right  around  us,  not  in  metaphysical  crea- 
tions, lies  then  the  making  or  marring  of  our 
eternal  lives.  Is  our  world  such  a  one  as  the 
Buddhistic-  or  Christian-Science  type  of  God 
would  create  for  the  perfecting  of  psychic 
beings  ? 

Our  next  consideration  must  be  the  relationship 


Objections  Met  241 

of  our  world  to  the  rest  of  creation.  There  was  a 
time  when  our  forefathers, — pardonably,  let  us 
say, — regarded  the  earth  as  the  solid  centre  of  all 
things,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  universe — sun,  moon, 
stars,  and  sky — as  only  a  feathery  canopy.  Since 
then  science  has  humbled  us.  Now  we  recognize 
our  earth  as  only  one  of  the  smaller  planets  of  the 
solar  system,  and  our  sun  as  only  one  of  the  in- 
ferior stars.  So,  also,  we  have  learned  that  there 
are  millions  of  these  shining  orbs,  even  to  our 
poor,  finite  vision, — a  million  millions  therefore  in 
the  spaces  beyond  our  telescopes,  which  only  our 
imagination  can  explore.  Each  of  these  myriad 
blazing  suns,  to  reason  by  analogy,  controls  its 
retinue  of  worlds.  It  is  not  impossible,  therefore, 
that  there  may  be  a  billion  earths  far  greater  and 
more  glorious  than  ours,  each  filled  with  beings 
of  our  own  race,  but  inconceivably  advanced 
beyond  us  in  divine  intelligence. 

How  then  have  we  fallen  and  been  humbled  to 
the  dust,  poor  benighted  earth-spirits  that  we  are ! 
But  the  saddest  part  of  our  abasement  is  in  this 
fact :  that  in  the  ratio  that  the  world  has  shrunk 
to  insignificance,  its  Creator  has  become  vague 
and  shadowy.  Once  He  walked  and  talked  with 
men  in  the  gardens  and  on  the  rugged  mountains 
of  the  earth;  now  He  traverses  only  the  Milky 
Way.  Then  He  conversed  with  prophets  and 
holy  men,  as  a  father  might  counsel  with  his 
sons ;  now  He  is  become,  in  the  words  of  the  poet, 
a  conception — 

16 


242       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Whom  none  can  comprehend  and  none  explore, 
Being  whom  we  call  God  and  know  no  more. 

The  gulf  which  Mormonism  seeks  to  bridge  is 
that  between  the  demands  of  a  vital,  living  faith, 
such  as  a  child  may  have  in  its  father,  and  the  de- 
mands of  reason  as  its  eye  sweeps  the  stellar  uni- 
verse. The  first  is  soothed  and  cheered  by  the 
history  of  God's  manifestations  unto  man:  by 
the  voice  of  the  "  Lord  God  walking  in  the  garden 
in  the  cool  of  the  evening";  or  admonishing 
Moses  to  take  off  his  shoes  because  he  was  on  holy 
ground ;  or  calling  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  to 
the  boy  Samuel,  during  the  days  when  the  "  word 
of  the  Lord  was  precious  in  the  land";  or  an- 
swering the  stricken  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind ;  or 
bearing  witness  to  John  the  Baptist,  "This  is  my 
beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased."  But 
how  do  these  special  manifestations  comport  with 
the  demands  of  reason  for  a  being  infinite,  eternal, 
unconditioned — 

Whose  presence  bright 

All  space  doth  occupy,  all  motions  guide? 

To  limit  such  a  being  even  to  so  wondrous  a 
galaxy  of  allied  solar  systems  as  the  Pleiades  seem 
to  present,  would  be  to  withdraw  Him  from  the 
universe  and  confine  Him  to  what  by  comparison 
would  be  less  than  a  grain  of  sand  to  the  bulk  of 
the  sun;  what,  then,  of  the  conception  which 
limits  Him  to  the  r61e  of  Jehovah  in  connection 


Objections  Met  243 

with  the  history  of  the  earth?  Is  the  God  de- 
picted in  Derzhaven's  poem,  from  which  I  have 
quoted  above,  the  same  Being  that  gave  direc- 
tions to  Noah  for  making  an  ark  out  of  gopher 
wood ;  or  that  wrote  with  His  finger  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments on  the  tablet  of  stone;  or  that  in- 
structed Moses  how  to  build  the  Tabernacle  in 
the  wilderness;  or  that  spoke  to  the  high  priest 
once  a  year  out  of  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant;  or 
that  figured  in  the  visions  of  Isaiah  and  Daniel, 
Paul,  and  John  the  Revelator?  If  faith  must 
give  up  these  objects,  how  barren  and  perfunc- 
tory would  religion  become!  Yet  if  reason  must 
square  its  concepts  by  them,  what  (apparent) 
confusion  would  immediately  enter  into  science ! 

And  so  of  all  the  concepts  relating  to  Jesus 
Christ  as  Saviour  of  mankind.  His  atonement  is 
spoken  of  as  an  infinite  sacrifice.  Are  we  to  sup- 
pose that  nowhere  in  the  universe  was  salvation 
possible  till  brought  about  by  the  tragedy  on 
Mount  Calvary?  That  on  no  sphere  in  space 
could  beings  pass  that  psychic  epoch  known  as 
resurrection,  till  Christ  led  the  way  on  our  earth? 

Such,  then,  is  an  outline  of  the  apparent  con- 
tradictions between  the  God  of  the  Bible  and  the 
God  demanded  by  reason.  Of  the  two  sides  to 
this  controversy,  the  men  of  science  are  the  more 
honest;  for,  while  they  are  feign  to  admit  the 
necessity  of  an  ultimate  Source  of  psychic  being, 
they  cannot  reconcile  the  unity,  eternity,  and 
infinitude  of  such  a  Being  with  the  limitations 


244       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

demanded  by  the  personal  Creator  and  controller 
of  our  earth,  or  by  a  being  who  can  act  the  role  of 
Providence,  and  be  influenced  by  prayer;  and  so 
they  do  not  try,  preferring  to  derive  the  earth  and 
all  things  in  it  from  what  they  are  pleased  to  call 
the  persistence  and  transmutation  of  energy. 
Modern  Christians,  on  the  other  hand,  while 
agreeing  to  the  scientific  conception  of  God,  are 
continually,  yet  very  illogically,  quoting  the 
Biblical  manifestations  before  referred  to  as  evi- 
dence of  His  existence;  either  not  perceiving  or 
else  wilfully  disregarding  the  fact  that  every 
example  so  adduced,  of  special  providence  or 
intervention  in  behalf  of  things  earthly,  is  a  fact 
immediately  limiting  or  conditioning  Him,  and 
therefore  opposed  to  His  infinitude.1 

Mormonism  is  under  no  such  pressure  toward 
soul-stultification  as  that  of  accepting  the  philo- 
sophic aspect  of  Deity,  and  then  of  promulgating 
subordinate  doctrines  in  direct  contradiction 
thereto,  in  order  to  have  a  religion  at  all;  for 
Mormonism  sees  the  essential  truth  of  both  these 
conceptions,  and  has  no  difficulty  in  reconciling 
them,  as  I  shall  attempt  to  show  in  the  chapters 
which  follow. 

1  Christian  ministers  are  quick,  however,  to  perceive  and 
point  out  this  fact,  when  modern  instances  of  God's  manifes- 
tations, such  as  those  claimed  by  Joseph  Smith,  are  in 
question. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

GODHOOD    AS    INCARNATED 

WHILE  I  was  laboring,  [writes  the  Prophet 
Joseph  Smith,]  under  these  extreme  difficul- 
ties caused  by  the  contests  of  religionists,  [as  to 
which  sect  was  right],  I  was  one  day  reading  the 
Epistle  of  James,  first  chapter,  and  fifth  verse,  which 
says,  "  If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom  let  him  ask  of  God, 
that  giveth  unto  all  men  liberally  and  upbraideth  not, 
and  it  shall  be  given  him."  Never  did  any  passage 
of  Scripture  come  with  more  power  to  the  heart  of 
man  than  did  this  to  mine.  It  seemed  to  enter  into 
every  feeling  of  my  heart.  I  reflected  on  it  again  and 
again,  knowing  that  if  any  person  needed  wisdom 
from  God,  I  did;  for  how  to  act,  I  did  not  know,  and 
unless  I  could  get  more  wisdom  than  I  then  had,  I 
should  never  know;  for  religious  teachers  of  the 
various  sects  understood  the  same  passage  so  differ- 
ently as  to  destroy  all  confidence  in  settling  the  ques- 
tion by  an  appeal  to  the  Bible. 

At  length  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  must 
either  remain  in  darkness  and  confusion  or  else  I 
must  do  as  James  directs,  that  is,  ask  of  God.  At 
length  I  determined  to  ask  of  God;  concluding  that 
if  He  gives  wisdom  to  them  that  lack  wisdom, — 
gives  liberally  and  does  not  upbraid, — I  might  venture. 

245 


246      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

In  accordance  with  this  determination  I  retired  to 
the  woods. 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  a  beautiful  clear  day, 
early  in  the  spring  of  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty, 
and  the  first  time  in  my  life  that  I  had  made  such  an 
attempt ;  for  amidst  all  my  anxieties,  I  had  never  as 
yet  made  the  attempt  to  pray  vocally.  After  I  had 
reached  the  place  previously  chosen,  and  looked 
around  to  be  sure  that  I  was  alone,  I  kneeled  down 
and  began  to  offer  up  the  desires  of  my  heart  to 
God. 

I  had  scarcely  done  so,  when  suddenly  I  was 
seized  by  some  power  which  entirely  overcame  me, 
even  exerting  such  astonishing  influence  over  me  as 
to  bind  my  tongue  so  that  I  could  not  speak.  Thick 
darkness  gathered  around  me,  and  for  a  time  it 
seemed  as  if  I  were  doomed  to  sudden  destruction. 

But,  exerting  all  my  powers  in  calling  on  God  to 
deliver  me,  and  at  the  very  moment  when  I  was  ready 
to  sink  into  despair,  and  abandon  myself  to  destruc- 
tion,— not  to  an  imaginary  ruin,  but  to  the  grasp  of 
some  actual  being  from  the  unseen  world  who  had 
power  over  me  such  as  I  had  never  felt  before, — I 
saw  exactly  over  my  head  a  pillar  of  light  above  the 
brightness  of  the  sun,  which  descended  gradually 
until  it  fell  upon  me. 

It  no  sooner  appeared  than  I  found  myself  delivered 
from  the  enemy  which  had  held  me  bound.  When 
the  light  rested  upon  me,  I  saw  two  personages,  whose 
brightness  and  glory  defy  all  description,  standing  above 
me  in  the  air.  One  of  them  spoke  unto  me,  calling  me 
by  name,  and  said  pointing  to  the  other,  "This  is  my 
beloved  son,  hear  him." 


Godhood  as  Incarnated          247 

By  the  truth  or  falsity  of  this  vision,  Mormonism 
rises  or  falls.  The  Prophet,  at  the  time  of  receiv- 
ing it,  was  scarcely  more  mature  in  years  than  was 
Samuel  of  old  when  the  Lord  called  to  him  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night.  But  mere  child  that  he 
was,  there  was  in  him  a  spirit  such  as  always  marks 
the  beginning  of  an  epoch  in  the  affairs  of  men. 
What  fourteen-year  boy  of  your  acquaintance 
was  ever  profoundly  agitated  as  to  the  true  way 
of  eternal  life?  Measure  him  by  the  mental  traits 
of  your  own  sons.  What  boy  in  his  early  teens 
ever  before  had  the  acumen  to  weigh  the  conflict- 
ing messages  of  his  religious  teachers,  the  resolu- 
tion to  cut  loose  from  them,  and  the  simple  faith 
to  go  direct  to  the  fountain  head  of  wisdom  for 
his  inspiration? 

Nor  must  it  be  imagined  that  this  vision  was 
reshaped  during  later  years.  Contemporaneous 
accounts  of  it  agree  exactly  with  the  simple  narra- 
tive above  recorded ;  for,  with  the  innocent  trust 
of  childhood,  Joseph  had  gone  to  a  certain  min- 
ister of  the  Gospel,  who  was  a  friend  to  the  family, 
and  related  what  he  had  seen  and  heard.  He  was 
not  prepared  for  the  storm  of  denunciation  which 
immediately  broke  from  half-a-dozen  pulpits  in 
the  neighborhood.  But  he  soon  learned  what 
pains  of  travail  must  accompany  the  birth  of 
Truth.  From  that  day  till  his  martyrdom  in 
1844,  he  was  a  marked  and  persecuted  man. 

It  will  be  noted  that  in  this  vision  are  in- 
volved, directly  or  indirectly,  the  doctrine  of  special 


248       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

providence  or  answer  to  prayer;  the  active  oppo- 
sition of  negative  spiritual  powers  to  the  salvation 
of  men ;  the  supremacy  of  the  positive  forces  of  the 
universe;  the  personal  or  anthropomorphic  form 
of  both  the  Father  and  Son;  the  authority  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  affairs  of  this  earth  by  the 
delegation  of  the  Father. 

But  the  essential  fact  of  the  vision  was  the  ex- 
plication of  Christ's  words  to  Nathaniel,  "Who 
hath  seen  me,  hath  seen  the  Father," — the  re- 
affirmation  of  Paul's  explanation  of  these  words, 
when  he  spoke  of  Jesus  as  being  the  "brightness 
of  his  Father's  glory,  the  express  image  of  his 
person."  There  was  nothing  in  the  religious 
teachings  of  the  day  that  could  have  given  Joseph 
Smith  the  conception  that  appears  in  this  vision. 
Had  he  been  a  conscious  impostor  he  would  have 
chosen  figures  in  keeping  with  the  ideas  of  his 
time.  He  could  not  have  known,  as  we  know 
now,  the  vital  significance  of  this  new  revelation 
of  the  Father  and  the  Son.  He  could  not  have 
realized  that  this  open  vision  was  the  one  thing 
needed  to  overthrow  a  thousand  years  of  vain  at- 
tempts to  merge  the  speculations  of  Buddha  and 
Plato  with  the  teachings  of  the  Bible.  It  is  sig- 
nificant, however,  of  the  simple  but  sturdy  in- 
tegrity of  the  boy  that  no  amount  of  wheedling, 
ridicule,  or  denunciation  could  swerve  him  one  iota 
from  the  reality  of  what  he  had  seen  and  heard.1 

1  "I  soon  found,"  writes  the  Prophet,  "that  my  telling  the 
story  had  excited  a  great  deal  of  prejudice  against  me  among 


Godhood  as  Incarnated  249 

And  for  the  earnest  seeker  after  truth, — for  the 
man  or  woman  whose  soul's  salvation  has  become 
the  foremost  question  of  life, — I  should  be  willing 
to  rest  this  discussion  by  simply  referring  him,  for 
the  truth  of  Joseph  Smith's  first  vision,  to  that 
same  passage  in  James:  "If  any  man  lack  wis- 
dom let  him  ask  of  God  that  giveth  to  all  men 
liberally  and  upbraideth  not,  and  it  shall  be  given 
him";  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  com- 
plete and  final  conviction  on  this  point,  when  it 
does  come,  must  come  from  God,  and  from  Him 

professors  of  religion,  and  was  the  cause  of  great  persecution, 
which  continued  to  increase.  And  though  I  was  an  obscure 
boy,  only  between  fourteen  and  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  my 
circumstances  in  life  such  as  to  make  a  boy  of  no  consequence 
in  the  world,  yet  men  of  high  standing  would  take  notice 
sufficient  to  excite  the  public  mind  against  me,  and  create  a 
hot  persecution;  and  this  was  common  among  all  the  sects — 
all  united  to  persecute  me.  ...  It  was  nevertheless  a 
fact  that  I  had  seen  a  vision.  I  have  thought  since  that  I 
felt  much  like  Paul  when  he  made  his  defense  before  king 
Agrippa.  .  .  .  Some  said  he  was  dishonest,  others  that 
he  was  mad,  and  so  he  was  ridiculed  and  reviled;  but  all 
this  did  not  destroy  the  reality  of  his  vision.  He  had  seen  a 
light  and  heard  a  voice, — he  knew  he  had;  and  all  the  perse- 
cution under  heaven  could  not  make  it  otherwise.  .  .  . 
So  it  was  with  me;  I  had  actually  seen  a  light,  and  in  the 
midst  of  that  light  I  saw  two  personages,  and  they  did  in 
reality  speak  to  me;  and  though  I  was  hated  and  persecuted 
for  saying  so,  yet  it  was  true :  and  ...  I  was  led  to  say 
in  my  heart,  Why  persecute  for  telling  the  truth?  I  have 
actually  seen  a  vision,  and  who  am  I  that  I  can  withstand 
God?  Or  why  does  the  world  think  to  make  me  deny  what 
I  have  actually  seen?  For  I  had  seen  a  vision.  I  knew  it, 
and  I  knew  that  God  knew  it,  and  I  could  not  deny  it,  neither 
dare  I  do  it,  lest  I  offend  God  and  come  under  condemnation." 


250      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

only.  But  as  this  book  is  an  attempt  to  look  at 
the  tenets  of  Mormonism  from  a  scientific  point 
of  view,  I  shall  proceed  with  my  argument  and 
attempt  to  show,  by  a  course  of  probable  reason- 
ing, that  a  Being  so  limited  and  circumscribed  is 
not  inconsistent  with  the  demands  of  reason  that 
the  Ruler  of  the  universe  must  be  a  power  abso- 
lute, infinite,  and  eternal. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  REAL  MEANING  OF  GODHOOD 

IT  is  an  old  saying  in  monarchies  that  the  king 
can  never  die.  The  incumbent  of  the  kingly 
office  is  subject  to  all  the  vicissitudes  of  other 
mortals;  nevertheless,  so  long  as  the  kingdom 
holds  intact,  the  aphorism  is  undoubtedly  true. 

So  in  our  own  country  we  might  say  the  Presi- 
dent cannot  be  assassinated,  although  three  of 
our  fellow-citizens,  while  holding  that  exalted 
office,  have  been  taken  away  by  the  bullet  of  the 
assassin.  The  President,  or,  to  be  more  exact, 
the  Presidency,  is  not  a  power  subject  to  the 
fluctuations  of  the  individual.  It  is  a  something 
formed  out  of  the  combined  psychic  life  of  the 
nation.  As  long  as  the  nation  endures,  it  endures. 
Were  the  nation  eternal,  it  would  be  eternal ;  were 
the  nation  infinite,  it  would  be  infinite. 

This  simple  analogy  ought  to  make  clear  in  what 
sense  God  is  infinite,  eternal,  self -existent,  and 
absolute  or  alone.  These  ultimate  categories  are 
predicable  of  God,  because  they  are  predicable  of 
that  which  makes  Him  God,  viz.,  of  Godhood. 
Take  Godhood  from  Jehovah,  and  He  might  still 

251 


252       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

(theoretically)  remain  our  Father  in  heaven,  but 
He  would  not  be  God ;  any  more  than  Roosevelt, 
stripped  of  the  power  delegated  by  the  suffrages 
of  this  nation,  would  remain  President. 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  an  explanation 
so  obvious  has  not  before  been  made  use  of  to 
reconcile  the  contradictions  between  God  as 
creator  and  providence  and  God  as  the  supreme 
and  final  conception  of  power.  The  failure  to  do 
so  only  emphasizes,  however,  the  all  but  universal 
extent  to  which  mankind  has  been  imbued  with 
the  autocratic  notion  of  Deity.  This  notion  stands 
pronounced  even  in  the  terms  expressing  God's 
divinity.  Godhead,  not  Godhood — the  supreme- 
by-will,  rather  than  the  supreme-by-law — has 
been  the  interpretation  of  His  omnipotence  by 
mankind.  As  a  consequence  He  has  for  the  most 
part  been  viewed  in  the  light  of  a  tyrant  to  be 
feared  and  placated,  rather  than  as  the  supreme 
executive  of  law  and  order,  to  be  revered  and 
loved;  and  religion,  instead  of  being  a  natural 
social  system  based  on  the  interpretation  of  the 
harmony  of  the  universe — man's  interpretation 
constantly  corrected  by  God's — has  degenerated 
into  a  ridiculously  artificial  system  of  rites  and 
ceremonies,  prayers  and  genuflections;  which,  if 
not  correlated  in  thought  with  a  supreme,  but 
vain  and  whimsical  autocrat,  on  whose  sceptre 
alone  hangs  salvation  or  damnation,  have  no 
meaning  whatever.  To  bring  this  thought  home, 
suppose  one  of  your  own  species  elevated  to  the 


Meaning  of  Godhood  253 

rank  of  recipient  of  this  homage,  and  endowed 
with  the  qualities  of  mind  necessary  to  find 
pleasure  in  it.  What  kind  of  being  should  you 
have?  Is  God  such  a  being? 

Godhood,  then,  in  the  sense  of  ordainer  and 
executor  of  law, — not  Godhead,  in  the  sense  of 
Head-god,  or  tyrant  by  right  of  supreme  will,— 
is  what  makes  a  "just  man  made  perfect"  God 
(e-  £•»  Jesus  Christ) ;  and  when  he  has  attained  to 
this  supreme  rank  of  intelligence  he  is  God  omni- 
potent, omniscient,  omnipresent,  eternal,  infinite, 
absolute — for  all  these  powers  are  the  powers  of 
Godhood  with  which  he  has  been  invested. 

I  am  quite  willing  that  this  explanation  shall 
be  taken  with  a  proper  reservation,  till  all  its  im- 
plications and  corollaries  be  examined. 

The  first  implication  necessarily  relates  to  the 
nature  of  Godhood  itself.  Philosophers  from  time 
out  of  mind  have  been  busy  trying  to  construct 
a  final  cause — always  with  pitiable  results,  either 
in  circle-arguments,  or  downright  self -stultifica- 
tion.1 Is  it  not  time  that  mankind  recognized  the 
innate  absurdity  of  such  attempts  ?  Is  it  because 
Causation  is  apprehensible  by  segments,  while 
Time  and  Space  are  seen  to  be  continuous,  that  it 
is  not  immediately  perceived,  even  as  they  are, 
to  be  an  eternal  relation? 

Reflect  upon  this  question  for  a  moment.  How 
could  there  possibly  be  a  first  cause  ?  The  moment 

1  For  an  example  of  the  inextricable  dilemmas  resulting 
from  such  efforts,  see  Appendix  B. 


254       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

we  try  to  single  out  any  cause  as  first,  we  perceive 
it  to  be  either  the  effect  of  some  antecedent  cause 
— in  which  case  it  is  not  first — or  an  act  of  will  of 
some  intelligent  being.  But  an  intelligent  being 
must  be  a  personal  being,  innately  eternal  and 
free,  as  an  ego,  and  superior  to  the  universe  by 
reason  of  initiative  and  the  mastery  of  universal 
forces — in  short  a  being  like  unto  God.1  As  such, 
his  omnipotence  or  power  to  create  would  be  a 
product  of  psychic  evolution  (see  Chapters  VIII, 
IX,  and  X),  and  consequently  not  a  first  cause. 
There  is  therefore  no  first  cause.  Causation  is  an 
eternal  constituent  of  the  universe — the  central 
fact  of  Godhood  itself. 

If  this  conclusion  is  not  immediately  self-evi- 
dent, it  may  be  strengthened  by  supposing  the 
universe  reduced  to  the  uncreated  or  formless 
state — the  state  of  chaos  or  homogeneous  nothing- 
ness 2 — and  then  considering  Causation  absent  as 
an  eternal  relation.  How  would  creation  begin? 

1  That  he  could  not  be  the  impalpable  essence  of  Buddhism 
and  Creator  at  the  same  time,  see  Chapters  IV.  and  V.,  also 
appendix  B,  where  this  question  is  argued  out. 

2  Buddhism  actually  postulates  such  a  state,  which  it  calls 
Pralaya  or  universal  night,  alternating  with  a  state  of  Crea- 
tion, called  Manvantana,  or  universal  day,  at  intervals  repre- 
sented in  terms  of  our  years,  by  a  period  of  fifteen  digits 
respectively;    but   of  course  the  creative  principle  or  God, 
which  is  represented  by  the  universe  itself,  is  postulated  as 
the  efficient  cause    of  both  states.     What  possible  purpose 
infinite  being  could  have  in  these  monotonous  appearances 
and  disappearances  throughout  eternity,  theosophists  do  not 
inform  us. 


Meaning  of  Godhood  255 

It  could  not.  But  the  universe  exhibits  on  every 
hand  the  actual  evidences  of  creation.  Godhood, 
or  the  power  to  create,  must  therefore  have  been 
eternally  present. 

It  follows  from  this  conception  that  there  is 
only  one  such  supreme  power  in  the  universe ;  in 
other  words,  there  can  be  but  one  true  God  (in  the 
sense  of  Godhood)  who  is  absolute  and  alone. 
The  forces  in  opposition  to  God,  known  as  sin  and 
the  Devil,  are  retrograde  movements  incidental 
to,  and  made  possible  only  by  some  tremendous 
psychic  evolution  set  going  by  Omnipotence  Him- 
self. They  are  to  God's  purposes  what  the  back- 
ward rush  of  water  up  some  bayou  of  the  Missis- 
sippi is  to  the  onward  sweep  of  that  stream.  Not 
only  would  such  backward  movements  be  im- 
possible without  the  correlative  forward  move- 
ment, but  in  their  very  nature  they  must  be 
transitory;  for  just  as  the  Mississippi  will  in  the 
course  of  a  few  geologic  years  wipe  out  the  stench 
and  miasma  along  its  course,  by  filling  up  the 
breeding  holes,  so  must  all  negative  forces  that 
poison  the  moral  and  spiritual  atmosphere  of  life, 
be  finally  obliterated  by  the  resistless  onward 
sweep  of  God's  purposes. 

But  while  the  Devil  and  his  cohorts  of  evil, 
together  with  those  forms  of  sin  which  are  inci- 
dental to  unperfected  human  nature — sins  which 
would  exist  even  if  there  were  no  tempter — will 
thus  ultimately  be  swept  out  of  existence,  even  as 
the  Scriptures  foretell,  this  is  not  saying  that 


256       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

there  will  not  be  similar  reactionary  forces  in  any 
future  scheme  of  psychic  evolution  like  that  ex- 
hibited by  our  present  world.  Indeed,  a  little 
reflection  must  make  it  seem  probable  that  nega- 
tive forces  like  those  with  which  we  are  familiar, 
are  inseparable  from,  not  to  say  necessary  to,  all 
such  world  projects  of  Deity. 

To  realize  that  this  must  be  so,  consider  for  a 
moment  how  such  negative  forces  arise.  A 
countless  number  of  self-conscious  beings,  in- 
nately eternal  and  free,  but  powerless  in  their 
primal  state  to  condition  the  universe  around 
them,  begin  that  course  of  psychic  evolution  the 
outcome  of  which  is  the  progressive  accumulation 
of  power  (see  Chapters  VIII,  IX,  and  X).  After 
millions  of  ages  devoted  to  the  apprehension  of 
and  compliance  with  law — in  other  words,  of 
obedience  to  the  will  of  God — they  have  reached  a 
stage  not  unfairly  represented  by  ourselves  on 
this  earth;  a  stage,  not  indeed  of  omnipotence, 
but  of  varying  degrees  of  conscious  power;  a 
power  which  they  are  free  to  exert  just  as  the  bias 
of  their  prevailing  ideas  shall  suggest. 

Now  is  it  not  more  than  probable  that  in  every 
such  aggregate  of  intelligent  beings  some  proud 
Lucifer  will  arise,  and,  forgetting  the  source  of  the 
power  which  swells  his  bosom,  seek  again  to  es- 
tablish his  throne  above  that  of  the  Almighty? 
And  should  he  do  so,  will  he  not  also  get  a  third — 
or  a  fifth,  or  a  tenth — of  the  hosts  of  heaven  to 
follow  him  in  the  forlorn  cause  ?  And  would  they 


Meaning  of  Godhood  257 

not  equally  be  cast  down  into  hell  ?  Such  a  world 
would  thus  have  its  quota  of  devils  precisely  as  we 
have  ours :  spirits  who  have  forever  lost  the  power 
to  say,  "Father,  thy  will  be  done,"  and  conse- 
quently have  no  other  alternative  than  to  expend 
their  power  in  opposition  to  God,  to  the  final  and 
inevitable  undoing  of  themselves. 

So  much  for  the  effect  of  the  sin  unpardonable 
(because  unrepentable) ;  but  what  of  the  two- 
thirds — or  three-fourths,  nine-tenths,  or  whatever 
the  proportion  might  be — of  the  spirits  who  would 
remain  loyal  in  such  a  supreme  conflict?  Is  it 
not  altogether  likely  that  they  would  do  as  we 
are  doing — take  a  zig-zag  course,  occasionally 
living  up  to  the  truth  impressed  upon  them  di- 
rectly (by  God)  or  indirectly  (by  nature),  but 
ready  at  the  slightest  whim  of  self -gratification,  to 
spend  the  power  accumulated  during  cycles  of  slow 
evolution  in  opposition  to  the  very  Source  and 
origin  of  it  all?  Who  can  doubt  that  such  will 
always  be  the  case — making  that  Scripture  an 
eternal  axiom  which  says:  "Many  are  called  but 
few  are  chosen." 

But,  to  come  back  to  our  point  of  departure, 
while  such  reactionary  forces  may  seem  formida- 
ble obstacles  to  the  doctrine  that  God  is  absolute, 
they  can  seem  so  only  to  mortals,  who,  being  in 
the  midst  of  them,  cannot  see  them  in  eternal  per- 
spective ;  to  Godhood  itself,  viewing  with  infinite 
eye  the  trend  of  the  universe,  they  must  seem 
less  potent  even  than  the  very  shadows  of  trifles. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

GODHOOD  INOPERATIVE  UNLESS  INCARNATED 

REVERTING  now  to  my  analogy  of  the  pre- 
vious chapter,  I  may  remark  that  while  the 
President  is  beyond  the  reach  of  the  assassin — 
since  he  is  not  born  of  woman  but  is  begotten 
directly  by  the  will  of  a  mighty  people — this  is 
what  the  murderer's  bullet  can  do :  it  can  suspend 
the  executive  will  of  the  nation,  till  its  power  can 
be  relocated;  for  magnificent  as  is  this  power, — 
the  combined  will  of  eighty  millions  of  people, — 
it  is  practically  nil,  a  thing  inoperative, — sus- 
pended, as  it  were,  in  the  air, — unless  it  be  in- 
vested in  a  man. 

In  like  manner  Godhood,  our  supreme  concept 
of  power,  carrying  with  it  omnipotence,  omnis- 
cience, omnipresence — all  the  categories  which 
reason  correlates  with  the  universe — is  incapable 
of  the  simplest  creative  act,  save  as  it  is  exercised 
by  a  being  like  our  Father  in  heaven  or  His  son 
Jesus  Christ.  For  by  our  very  manner  of  conceiv- 
ing it  as  separate  and  distinct  from  an  organized 
psychic  being,  we  imply,  as  in  the  case  of  Presi- 
dency, a  power  potential  but  lacking  the  first  re- 

258 


Godhood  Incarnated  259 

quisites  of  creative  power — the  capacity  to  in- 
vent, and  the  ability  so  to  co-ordinate  and  differ- 
entiate the  application  of  power  as  to  bring  into 
being  the  thing  invented. 

Godhood  alone  is  therefore  not  God,  any  more 
than  Presidency  alone  is  President.  Without 
Godhood  a  psychic  being  might  invent  a  solar 
system,  but  it  could  never  be  projected  beyond 
his  own  mind;  without  a  psychic  being  to  rest 
upon,  Godhood  must  remain  inoperative,  a  mere 
static  or  potential  power,  throughout  eternity. 
Strictly  speaking,  therefore,  the  categories  above 
named,  omnipotence,  omniscience,  etc.,  are  predi- 
cable  of  Godhood  only  when  invested  upon  a 
perfected  man ;  in  other  words,  they  are  predicable 
only  of  God. 

We  have  thus  explained  how  Jesus  Christ  could 
become  God.  For  though  Catholics  insist  that 
He  was  always  God,  we  cannot  so  reconcile  the 
fact  that  He  was  first  the  Son  of  God,  the  only  be- 
gotten of  the  Father,  the  first-born  among  many 
brethren — all  which  terms  imply  a  time  when  He 
was  not  God ;  and  therefore,  instead  of  the  preva- 
lent idea  which  is  read  into  the  first  verse  of  John's 
Gospel,  viz.,  "In  the  beginning  was  Christ,  and 
Christ  was  with  God,  and  Christ  was  God," — I 
prefer  to  render  the  mystery  which  John  hid  in  the 
word  logos,  and  which  has  been  translated  "the 
Word,"  by  a  term  which  shall  not  impugn  the  pas- 
sages just  quoted  relating  to  his  birth,  and  which 
shall,  moreover,  be  consistent  with  his  manner  of 


260       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

becoming  God,  viz.,  "In  the  beginning  (i.  e.,  al- 
ways, eternally)  was  Godhood,  and  Godhood  was 
with  (i.  e.,  part  of)  God  .  .  .  and  Godhood 
was  made  flesh  (i.  e.,  was  conferred  upon  man), 
and  dwelt  among  us,  full  of  grace  and  truth."  x 

Note  the  fact  that  the  words  "full  of  grace  and 
truth"  favor  my  interpretation;  for  where  else 
than  in  Godhood  or  Godliness  do  these  attributes 
inhere?  Even  the  parenthetical  expression,  "and 
we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  that  of  the  only 
begotten  of  the  Father,"  indicates  the  reception 
of  divine  attributes  as  the  very  heart  of  the  mys- 
tery. At  any  rate  the  fact  that  Christ's  organized 
spiritual  life  began  with  the  Father — at  which 
time  He  was  consequently  not  God — is  to  be  re- 
conciled with  this  other  fact  proclaimed  by  Paul 
that  now,  "  In  him  dwelleth  bodily  (i.  e.,  in  bodily 
form)  the  fulness  of  Godhood"  (Col.  ii.,  9).  My 
explanation  reconciles  these  apparent  contradic- 

1  I  do  not  put  this  interpretation  forward  as  authoritative, 
— that  would  be  extremely  foolish  in  any  one  save  God  Him- 
self, through  the  medium  of  His  inspired  oracles.  I  merely 
wish  to  suggest  that  the  Beloved  Disciple,  who  was  perhaps 
more  deeply  versed  in  the  mysteries  of  God's  economy  than 
any  other  of  the  Apostles,  designed,  by  the  mysterious  use 
of  the  word  logos,  to  indicate  something  more  than  the  mere 
personality  of  the  Son.  My  interpretation  does  not  preclude 
the  idea  that  He  was  with  the  Father — as  indeed  we  all 
were — in  the  beginning,  before  the  world  was.  But  it  does 
make  the  passage  consistent  with  the  fact  that  our  Elder 
Brother,  though  he  stands  foremost  among  God's  children 
and  is  the  first  to  receive  Godhood,  does  not  differ  essentially 
in  the  course  of  His  psychic  life  from  that  of  Peter,  Paul, 
Isaiah,  or  any  other  of  His  brothers  or  sisters. 


Godhood  Incarnated  261 

tories;  and  that,  too,  without  the  need  of  that 
soft  palliation  for  religious  self-stultification— 
mystery.  So,  too,  we  can  now  understand  how 
Jesus  Christ  may  be  referred  to  as  the  eternal  God 
—eternal  being  one  of  the  categories  of  the  power 
that  makes  him  God. 

Having  made  plain  how  one  man  born  of  woman 
became  God,  I  have  justified  our  Saviour's  su- 
preme injunction:  "  Be  ye  perfect  as  your  Father 
in  heaven  is  perfect"  ;  also  the  supreme  aphorism 
of  Mormonism:  "As  man  is,  God  once  was;  as 
God  is,  man  may  become."  I  have,  moreover, 
indicated  how  there  may  be  an  infinite  number 
of  psychic  beings  who  have  attained  this  supreme 
rank,  and  yet,  in  the  sense  of  the  power  which 
ranks  them,  how  there  can  be  only  one  true  God 
everlasting — "without  body,  parts,  or  passions," 
if  you  will ;  how  beings  yet  unborn  may,  through 
attaining  to  the  "fullness  of  Godhood  bodily,"  in 
future  ages  be  spoken  of  respectively  as  "God 
everlasting — from  eternity  to  eternity." 

Many  interesting  questions  spring  up  at  this 
point  which  it  will  be  profitable  to  consider  some- 
what at  length. 

In  a  previous  part  of  this  discussion  it  was 
pointed  out  that  the  Mormon  aphorism  as  to  the 
sequential  relations  of  man  and  God,  implies  the 
possibility  of  an  infinite  number  of  divine  beings, 
related  to  each  other  by  sequence,  and  reigning 
co-ordinately  (at  least  in  time  if  not  in  authority) 
as  Gods  in  the  universe.  The  same  idea  is  implied 


262      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

in  the  opening  paragraphs  of  this  chapter;  for 
if  the  power  to  create  is  an  eternal  relation,  and 
yet  no  creative  act  can  issue,  save  as  this  power 
is  united  with  a  psychic  being  perfected  enough 
to  wield  it,  it  follows  that  the  universe  was 
never  without  a  perfected  psychic  being;  but 
as  "perfected"  implies  a  course  of  psychic  evolu- 
tion such  as  we  are  passing  through  now,  it  follows 
that  there  must  be  an  infinite  line  of  such  psychic 
beings. 

A  line  of  beings  related  by  sequence — such  an 
idea  experience  enables  us  to  understand;  but  an 
infinite  line — that  is  beyond  comprehension.  A 
succession  without  a  beginning  absolutely  staggers 
the  human  mind.  How  could  there  not  be  a  first ! 
we  exclaim.  The  only  answer  is  the  echo  of  how. 
But  the  contradictory  alternative,  How  could 
there  be  a  first  ?  is  equally  incomprehensible.  For 
the  moment  we  assume  a  first  God,  we  imme- 
diately ask,  What  God  enabled  this  being  to  attain 
to  the  rank  of  Godhood  ? 

It  was  the  mistaken  notion  that  the  human 
mind  absolutely  demands  a  resting  place,  that  led 
philosophers  to  postulate  as  final  cause,  an  in- 
finitely extended,  uncaused,  unconditioned,  or 
Necessary  Being — not  a  being,  however,  for  that 
would  imply  limitation,  but  being  unqualified. 
Now  if  it  were  possible  to  believe  such  being  could 
invent  and  execute  a  creation — an  hypothesis 
transcending  all  experience, — the  moment  it  suc- 
ceeded, it  would  cease  to  be  necessary  being,  for 


Godhood  Incarnated  263 

it  would  be  conditioned  in  relation  to  its  creation 
as  cause  to  effect ;  but  the  fact  that  such  a  condi- 
tion was  inherent  in  it  shows  that  it  never  was 
necessary  being.  For  the  tangle  of  contradic- 
tions involved  in  such  a  scheme  of  deriving  the 
visible  universe,  see  Dean  Hansel's  exposition  of 
the  Necessary  Being  as  Creator  (Appendix  B). 

But  supposing  that  such  a  notion  could  be  made 
to  seem  rational,  the  practical  question  is,  What 
would  our  ideals  gain  thereby?  Conceive  a  time 
when  Creation  began.  Well,  what  was  before 
that?  Darkness — chaos.  A  million  years  be- 
fore? Darkness — chaos.  A  million  million — not 
years — but  ages?  Darkness — chaos.  A  billion 
billion  cycle  of  ages?  Darkness — chaos.  Deity 
sleeps — he  has  not  yet  stirred  from  all  eternity! 

The  Buddhist  notion  is  at  least  a  trifle  better. 
It  gives  us  a  rhythmic,  albeit  a  senseless,  purpose- 
less, motion  in  the  universe:  a  night  of  100,000,- 
000,000,000  years,  during  which  Deity  inbreathes, 
drawing  into  the  universal  darkness  of  Chaos  men 
and  worlds  alike;  then  a  day  of  equal  length 
during  which  He  breathes  them  out  again ! 

Compare  either  of  these  notions  with  the  Mor- 
mon conception  of  infinitely  extending  galaxies  of 
worlds  peopled  by  intelligent  beings  in  process  of 
psychic  evolution!  Granting  that  all  three  no- 
tions are  incomprehensible,  which  is  the  nobler 
conception?  Again,  which  agrees  with  our  ex- 
perience, limited  though  it  be? 

But  coming  back,  the  idea  that  the  human  mind 


264      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

demands  a  resting  place  in  the  series  of  causation 
is  a  mistaken  notion.  Are  we  troubled  because 
our  ideas  of  space  and  time  are  necessarily  in- 
finite? Yet  these  present  exactly  the  analogues 
of  the  disturbing  elements  in  Causation.  For  in- 
stance, How  can  there  not  be  a  beginning  to  space 
(or  time)?  Unanswerable.  Well,  let  us  try  it. 
Let  us  go  in  a  straight  line  eastward  on  the  wings  of 
light  (185,000  miles  per  second).  After  a  million 
million  years  we  rest.  Surely,  this  is  the  begin- 
ning of  space.  Well,  if  it  is,  what  is  just  beyond? 
Try  again, — this  time  a  billion  ages.  Again  we 
rest,  and  look  eastward.  No  eternal  wall  here, 
no  evidence  yet  of  a  beginning.  We  increase  our 
speed  a  million-fold,  and  fly  for  a  billion  billion 
ages.  We  are  not  an  inch  nearer  the  beginning 
than  when  we  started;  nor  have  we  taken  one  second 
of  time  from  the  beginning  and  added  it  to  the  end; 
for  there  is  neither  beginning  nor  end  to  space  and 
time. 

What  then  ?  Simply  this :  there  is  space  imme- 
diately around  us  to  breathe  God's  air,  build  the 
home  nest,  and  draw  from  mother  earth  our 
simple  subsistence;  what  care  we  then  that  the 
same  space  extends  infinitely  in  all  directions 
around  us?  There  is  time  each  day  to  do  the 
simple  tasks  required  of  us  by  our  Creator:  let 
the  infinite  past  and  future  then  take  care  of  them- 
selves. 

So  also  harvest  follows  seed-time — effect  follows 
cause  by  law  inevitable.  Why  should  we  be  dis- 


Godhood  Incarnated  265 

turbed  that  the  chain  extends  infinitely  both  be- 
hind and  in  front  of  us?  Our  only  concern  need 
be  that  the  links  we  forge  be  of  steel  and  not  of  grass. 

One  more  question  in  this  illimitable  excursion 
we  have  been  taking,  and  this  chapter  must  close. 
If,  as  seems  possible,  there  should  be  an  infinite 
number  of  beings  like  Christ  exercising  co-ordi- 
nately, perhaps  independently,  the  functions  of 
Godhood,  what  is  to  preserve  unity  among  them 
—what  to  prevent  the  clash  of  power  which  asso- 
ciation with  human  sovereignties  has  taught  us  to 
expect? 

If  our  judgment  in  the  matter  were  based  solely 
on  human  analogy,  then  the  question  might  well 
be  asked.  Fancy  half  a  dozen  Presidents  govern- 
ing co-ordinately  in  these  United  States!  Even 
where  sovereignties  have  well-defined  lines  of  de- 
markation,  a  generation  rarely  passes  without 
imbroglios.  But  the  analogies  between  govern- 
ments human  and  divine  hold  only  in  superficial 
relations.  In  human  governments,  the  right  to 
rule  is  rarely,  save  in  republics,  based  on  fitness  to 
rule.  In  divine  governments  it  is  based  on  no 
other  qualification ;  and  not  on  relative  but  abso- 
lute fitness.  What,  indeed,  is  the  essential  fact 
of  Godhood,  if  it  is  not  absolute  oneness  with  the 
universe?  He,  therefore,  who  attains  to  this 
power  must  so  have  subdued  or  co-ordinated  his 
own  personality,  as  to  offer  no  friction  to  the  uni- 
versal constitution  of  things.  Of  such  a  being,  it 
may  be  said,  "He  is  a  God  of  Truth  and  cannot 


266      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

He."  Such  is  the  relation  which  constitutes  the 
unity  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  There 
might  be  a  million — or  an  infinite  number — of 
such  beings,  so  far  as  individual  initiative  in 
creation  is  concerned,  and  yet  essentially  only  one 
true  God  in  the  universe.  For  if  each  shaped  his 
creations  in  accordance  with  absolute  truth,  how 
could  the  universal  unity  be  broken — how  could 
a  clash  in  sovereignty  occur? 

As  to  the  minor  question  of  the  ways  and  means, 
it  need  not  be  entered  into  here.  Sufficient  to 
point  out,  that  where  space  for  world-building  is 
infinite,  and  materials  inexhaustible,  and  time 
eternal,  there  need  arise  no  question  of  precedence 
or  subordination.  As  a  simple  instance  of  what 
might  be  done  in  our  own  part  of  the  universe,  it 
is  enough  to  say  that  within  the  hollow  sphere 
formed  on  the  radius  between  our  sun  and  the 
nearest  fixed  star,  there  is  ample  room  for  a  mil- 
lion solar  systems  like  our  own — and  creative 
power  has  not  yet  ceased  its  activity  with  that. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

JEHOVAH,  GOD  OF  ABRAHAM,  ISAAC,  AND  JACOB 

'  "I  \  TE  know,"  says  Paul  in  his  first  epistle  to 
V  V  the  Corinthians  (viii.,  4,  5,  and  6), "  that 
no  idol  is  anything  in  this  world,  and  that  there  is 
no  God  but  one;  for  though  there  be  that  are 
called  Gods,  whether  in  heaven  or  on  earth, — as 
there  are  Gods  many  and  Lords  many, — yet  to  us 
there  is  but  one  God,  the  Father,  of  whom  are  all 
things  and  we  unto  him,  and  one  Lord,  Jesus 
Christ,  through  whom  are  all  things  and  we 
through  him." 

It  is  a  decided  relief  to  feel  one's  self  back  again 
in  our  own  immediate  regions  of  the  universe.  For 
although  the  arguments  in  the  last  chapter  be- 
came necessary  because  of  the  ignis  fatuus  chase 
which  philosophers  have  led  the  world,  yet,  the 
mind  of  man  being  incapable,  at  this  stage  of  its 
psychic  evolution,  to  apprehend  infinite  relations, 
all  such  discussions  are  intrinsically  profitless,  and 
may,  indeed,  be  harmful:  for  to  pursue  a  pro- 
position which  at  one  moment  assumes  the  form, 
"It  must  be,"  and  the  next,  "It  can't  be,"  is  to 
invite  insanity.  Most  wisely  therefore  did  the 

267 


268       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Apostle  restrict  our  philosophizing  to  God  the 
Father  as  the  immediate  cause  of  all  things,  and 
to  Jesus  Christ  as  the  immediate  intelligent  agency 
through  which  God's  will  becomes  effective. 

For  it  is  evident  by  the  expression  "one  God" 
that  Paul  did  not  have  in  mind  the  abstract  no- 
tion of  divine  unity,  such  as  forms  the  concept  of 
the  philosopher  and  the  scientist ;  his  notion  was 
restricted  to  the  one,  individual  being — Jehovah, 
the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  limited  in 
form,  infinite  only  as  the  executive  of  Godhood — 
to  whom  alone  mankind  owes  allegiance:  else 
why  should  he  couple  His  personality  with  that  of 
Jesus  Christ,  whom  elsewhere  he  describes  as  the 
"brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  the  express 
image  of  His  person?" 

I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  placing  in  italics 
certain  words  in  this  passage,  in  order  to  call  at- 
tention to  an  idea  often  overlooked.  That  Paul 
meant  to  include  among  the  beings  that  "are 
called  Gods"  all  the  idols  worshipped  by  ancient 
nations,  is  plain  on  the  surface ;  on  the  other  hand, 
his  tacit  admission  that  there  are  Gods  many  and 
Lords  many,  as  well  in  heaven  as  upon  the  earth, 
shows  that  he  had  in  view  the  very  possibility  dis- 
cussed in  the  last  chapter;  and  took  occasion, 
moreover,  to  exclude  even  such  perfected  divine 
beings  from  any  part  in  our  homage. 

Mankind  of  to-day,  therefore,  with  all  their  su- 
perior knowledge  of  the  physical  universe,  are  re- 
stricted to  the  same  divine  allegiance  as  were  the 


Jehovah  269 

peoples  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  (whom, 
by  the  by,  it  is  becoming  quite  the  fashion,  in 
certain  advanced  ( ?)  churches,  to  speak  slightingly 
of  as  decidedly  anthropomorphic  and  local  in  their 
ideas  of  Deity).  It  is  a  blessed  restriction — one 
which  I,  at  least,  shall  never  be  tempted  to 
transcend;  for  that  our  Father's  relations  to  the 
greater  universe  are  founded  on  the  rock  of  truth, 
I  am  willing  to  believe  on  the  evidence  that  His 
creations  endure;  plainly,  therefore,  my  whole 
duty  in  life  consists  in  making  my  relations  with 
Him  equally  fixed  and  steadfast,  until  Christ's  in- 
junction shall,  if  possible,  be  fulfilled,  and  I  be- 
come "perfect  as  He  is  perfect."  This  supreme 
motive  must  dominate  my  life — become  the  guid- 
ing principle  of  my  religion :  life  and  religion  being 
by  this  very  fact  merged  into  one.  In  my  acting 
upon  it  day  by  day,  every  object,  every  experi- 
ence, will  have  for  me  a  definite  meaning :  I  shall 
ever  tread  upon  terra  firma,  for  I  have  cast  aside 
the  cloud-gauze  and  phantasmagoria  of  meta- 
physical speculation. 

There  remains  the  question  of  testing  so  re- 
stricted an  idea  of  God  by  the  revelations  which 
He  has  given  of  Himself  in  the  holy  Scriptures. 

That  God  is  infinite,  eternal,  omnipotent, 
omniscient,  omnipresent,  absolute  or  alone,  in  the 
universe,  I  have  already  reconciled  with  His 
personality  by  showing  that  these  attributes  are 
true  of  the  power  which  makes  Him  God, — inci- 
dentally showing  therefore,  in  the  only  way  it  can 


270      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

be  shown,  how  these  same  categories  are  also  true 
of  Christ.  Let  us  therefore  pass  to  other  revela- 
tions, more  directly  affecting  the  Father  as  a 
personal  being. 

"God  is  a  spirit,"  says  John,  "and  they  that 
worship  him  must  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 

Well,  is  not  Christ  also  a  spirit — are  we  not  all 
spirits — in  the  same  sense?  Because  a  spirit  be- 
comes incarnated  in  a  body,  does  he  cease  to  be  a 
spirit?  Again,  if  we  are  to  worship  Him  "in 
spirit,"  does  that  imply  we  are  to  cease  be- 
ing organized  personalities?  The  fact  which  the 
Apostle  wished  to  convey  was  merely  this :  As  it 
is  the  eternal,  spiritual  essence  which  constitutes 
the  life  and  mind  of  God,  so  we  must  approach. 
Him  by  that  same  spiritual  essence  in  ourselves, 
and  not  by  the  purely  corporal  or  physical  rites 
so  common  among  idolators.1  This  passage 
therefore  does  not  overthrow  the  personal  idea  of 

I"I  am  well  aware,"  says  a  Catholic  writer,  "that  the 
Latterday  Saints  interpret  this  text  as  meaning  a  spirit 
clothed  with  a  body;  but  what  nearly  the  whole  of  mankind, 
Christians,  Jews,  Mohammedans,  have  believed  for  ages 
cannot  be  upset  by  the  gratuitous  assertions  of  a  religious 
innovator  of  the  last  century."  Well,  if  it  cannot,  it  cannot; 
if  it  can,  it  can — that  is  all  there  is  to  this  argument.  Those 
who  see  as  the  daring  innovator  sees,  will  follow  him  ; 
others  will  not.  "In  the  meanwhile  it  is  well  to  bear  in 
mind,"  says  Max  Muller,  "that  the  universality  of  an  error 
does  not  help  in  the  least  to  make  it  a  truth.  It  may  prove 
useful  to  have  learnt  from  history  the  elementary  lesson  that 
no  opinion  is  true  simply  because  it  has  been  held  by  the 
greatest  intellects,  or  by  the  largest  number  of  human  beings, 
at  different  periods  in  the  history  of  the  world." 


Jehovah  271 

God, — especially  as  a  hundred  other  passages 
confirm  it. 

We  shall  next  consider  those  passages  which 
teach  the  invisibility  of  God.  "No  man,"  says 
John,  "hath  seen  God  at  any  time"  (iv.,  12).  So 
also :  "  Whom  no  man  hath  seen  or  can  see,"  says 
Paul,  after  telling  us  that  God  dwells  in  light 
which  no  man  can  approach  (I  Tim.  vi.,  15).  The 
latter  idea  is  confirmed  in  Exodus  (xxxiii.,  20), 
where  the  Lord  says  to  Moses :  ' '  Thou  canst  not 
see  my  face,  for  there  shall  no  man  see  me  and 
live."  His  glory,  expressed  by  Paul  in  terms  of 
light,  was  so  intense  that  it  would  have  consumed 
Moses ;  so  he  was  placed  in  the  cleft  of  a  rock  and 
beheld  the  back  of  the  Lord  as  he  passed  by. 

Now  if  it  could  be  proved  that  God  is  invisible 
to  man — and  this  fact  may  be  granted — would  it 
thereby  be  proved  that  He  is  not  a  personal  Being, 
an  exalted  Man?  Not  evidently  to  the  mind  of 
John,  who,  though  he  declares  no  man  hath  seen 
God,  makes  an  exception  of  our  Saviour  (vi.,  46), 
showing  that  the  Father  is  in  a  form  to  be  seen. 

The  fact  is,  that  God  and  man  are  in  different 
planes  of  being,  the  higher  of  which  is  invisible  to 
the  lower.  If  the  idea  be  put  in  this  form,  viz., 
"Mortality  cannot  see  immortality,"  all  the  ap- 
parent contradictions  disappear,  between  the 
many  instances  recorded  where  God  has  been 
seen  by  man,  and  John's  and  Paul's  emphatic  de- 
nial that  such  a  thing  is  possible ;  for  then  it  will 
be  seen  that  in  all  the  instances  where  man  has 


272       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

beheld  God  with  his  natural  eyes,  the  latter  did 
not  appear  in  His  glory,  but  functioned,  for  the 
time  being,  on  the  plane  of  mortality,  and  was 
therefore  by  so  much  not  God ;  on  the  other  hand, 
where  man  has  seen  God  in  His  glory,  it  has  been 
by  dream,  or  vision,  or  other  supernatural  eleva- 
tion of  perception, — in  which  case  man  has,  by 
so  much,  been  more  than  mortal. 

A  notable  instance  of  the  latter  is  that  of  Moses, 
who,  during  the  forty  days  and  nights  that  he  was 
with  the  Lord  on  Mt.  Sinai,  must  have  been  raised 
to  God's  plane;  for  when  he  came  down,  his  face 
shone  with  such  effulgence  that  the  people  of 
Israel  could  not  stand  to  look  upon  it.  So  also 
did  Christ  furnish  examples  of  this  law;  for  it 
seems  that  after  His  resurrection  He  became  visi- 
ble or  invisible  to  whom  He  would;  evidently 
according  as  He  functioned  on  the  mortal  or  the 
immortal  plane. 

Another  argument  against  personality  is  some- 
times drawn  from  the  fact  of  God's  immutability. 
The  Scriptures  represent  Him  as  the  same  yester- 
day, to-day,  and  forever.  "  I  am  the  Lord,  and  I 
change  not,"  is  the  revelation  of  Him  by  Malachi 
(iii.,  6) ;  while  James  (i.,  17)  speaks  of  Him  as  the 
"Father  of  lights,  with  whom  is  no  variableness 
or  shadow  of  turning." 

In  so  far  as  immutability  is  to  be  regarded  as  an 
absolute  category,  it  inheres  in  Godhood,  and  is 
the  very  foundation  of  that  infinite  integrity  on 
which  is  predicated  the  revelation  that  "God  is  a 


Jehovah  273 

God  of  truth  and  cannot  lie."  Before  our  Father 
attained  to  Godhood,  He  passed  through  muta- 
tions such  as  are  inevitable  in  a  course  of  psychic 
evolution;  but  when  He  attained  to  Godhood,— 
when  His  soul  became  perfectly  attuned  to  the 
infinite  harmony  of  the  universe, — how  could  He 
be  other  than  immutable?  For  change  would 
then  imply  degeneracy. 

But  in  a  relative  sense,  God  is  changeable.  Read 
the  history  of  His  dealings  with  the  human  race, 
and  you  will  find  it  one  long  tapestry  of  mutation 
and  change:  of  laws  established  and  abrogated, 
ordinances  ordained  and  set  aside,  commands  and 
counter-commands.  How,  indeed,  could  He  act 
the  rdle  of  Providence,  did  He  not  change?  How 
could  He  insure  the  eternal  progress  of  His  chil- 
dren, save  by  a  course  of  progressive  adaptation 
of  the  divine  requirements? 

In  what  way,  then,  is  His  mutability  reconciled 
with  His  immutability?  In  this  way:  As  re- 
spects the  eternal  principles  underlying  His  pur- 
poses, He  never  changes;  these  form  the  very 
warp  and  woof  of  His  divine  perfection;  but  as 
respects  the  methods  or  devices  for  bringing  about 
these  purposes,  He  changes  as  the  exigency  re- 
quires; and  the  variations  possible  to  His  inven- 
tion are  practically  infinite.  How  else  could  He 
bring  them  about? 

It  is  by  reason  of  this  very  principle  of  muta- 
tion in  God  that  we  perceive  all  things  to  be  in  a 
state  of  evolution  here  on  earth.  Nothing  stands 


18 


274      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

still ;  the  law  of  life  seems  to  be :  Go  forward,  or 
the  very  forces  of  the  universe  will  drag  you  back 
He  who  does  not  progress,  immediately  begins  to 
retrograde. 

And  were  it  not  for  our  faith,  these  very  muta- 
tions would  overwhelm  us  with  doubt  and  fear; 
as  it  is,  we  know — all  may  know  who  will — that 
though  the  world  seems  to  be  going  wrong,  yet 
down  upon  the  seething  turbulence  of  life  shines 
steadfastly  forever  the  purposes  of  God,  even  as 
shines  the  sun  above  and  beyond  the  storm  and 
stress  of  the  elements,  which  its  very  shining  has 
indirectly  served  to  set  moving. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

HOW  OUR  FATHER  BECAME  GOD 

HAVING  examined,  in  the  previous  chapters, 
those  aspects  and  concepts  of  the  Uni- 
verse, and  also  those  texts  of  Scripture  which 
seem  to  antagonize  the  personal  or  Christ-type 
of  Deity,  and  found  them  not  inconsistent  with 
the  Bible  revelation  of  Him,  I  shall  let  that 
question  rest,  and  assume  that  the  only  supreme 
being  to  whom  earth-spirits  owe  allegiance  is 
Jehovah,  our  Father  in  heaven,  the  immediate 
Creator  and  controller  of  this  earth  and  all  things 
in  it. 

But  since  by  this  conception  He  is  made  to  be- 
long to  the  same  order  of  beings  as  Christ,  His 
Son, — the  same  order,  indeed,  as  man  himself,— 
and  must  consequently  have  attained  to  Godhood 
or  creative  power,  it  becomes  a  pertinent  question 
to  consider  how  He  reached  such  divine  sover- 
eignty, (i )  Was  He  elected  to  the  supreme  place  ? 
Election  may  confer  dominion, — it  cannot  add  an 
iota  to  native  ability ;  but  is  not  dominion  part  of 
divine  supremacy?  (2)  Was  Godhood  conferred 
upon  Him?  Ordination  may  give  place  and 

275 


276      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

opportunity, — it  cannot  give  creative  power.  But 
are  not  place  and  opportunity  vital  relations  in 
creative  power?  (3)  Did  He  attain  to  Godhood 
by  the  gradual  development  of  powers  inherent 
in  His  very  being? 

Whatever  the  answer  shall  be  to  these  ques- 
tions, one  thing  may  be  absolutely  predicated  on 
the  start:  He  is  God  primarily  by  reason  of  su- 
preme fitness;  for  Godhood,  being  omnipotence 
or  the  power  to  create  in  harmony  with  the  in- 
finite unity  of  the  universe,  is  a  thing,  like  brains, 
not  conferrable  by  authority  nor  purchasable  by 
money  or  influence.  A  being  has  either  attained 
to  this  power,  or  he  has  not  attained  to  it,  by 
native  self -effort.  The  universe  itself  could  not 
give  it  to  any  man.  A  sufficient  general  answer, 
therefore,  would  be  that  God  became  God  be- 
cause He  fulfilled  the  law  of  becoming  perfect  as 
His  Father  in  heaven  was  perfect;  or,  in  the 
terms  of  science,  because  He  fulfilled  the  supreme 
requirements  of  psychic  evolution. 

But  before  considering  specifically  the  meaning 
of  these  answers,  let  us  see  what  we  may  learn 
from  the  analogy  of  human  sovereignties;  pre- 
mising our  investigation  with  this  general  con- 
sideration :  that  as  man's  institutions  of  law  and 
government  are  deductions  from  his  interpreta- 
tions of  nature  and  life — which  be  it  remembered 
are  expressions  of  God's  ideals, — truth  or  the 
power  analogous  to  Godhood  is  in  these  institu- 
tions to  the  extent  that  man  has  interpreted  cor- 


How  Our  Father  Became  God    277 

rectly,  and  afterward  reasoned  correctly  on  his 
interpretations;  and  it  is  needless  to  say  on  the 
other  hand  that  error,  and  consequently  insta- 
bility, lurks  in  them  to  the  extent  that  he  has 
failed  to  grasp  and  generalize  the  full  significance 
of  the  divine  ideals.  It  follows,  then,  that  any 
epoch  of  nature-study,  any  period  during  which 
multitudes  of  people  depart  from  conventionali- 
ties, give  attention  to  the  innate  significance  of 
nature  and  human  life,  — must  be  characterized  by 
rapidly  changing  human  institutions,  and  their 
readjustment  on  lines  more  nearly  in  conformity 
with  nature,  as  we  say, — really  more  in  conform- 
ity with  the  thoughts  of  God. 

This  is  one  way  in  which  the  text,  "God  rules 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth"  is  made  true; 
and,  thank  heaven,  it  is  becoming  more  deeply 
and  widely  true  every  day  throughout  the  world. 
The  immediate  conclusion,  however,  which  I  wish 
here  to  draw  is :  that  in  seeking  an  answer  to  the 
question  how  God  became  God,  we  are  not  to  ex- 
pect the  light  to  break  from  some  deep,  occult 
cave  of  speculation,  or  even  through  some  dark 
cloud  of  scriptural  mystery,  but  rather  from  the 
very  face  of  nature  and  of  life ;  and  if  in  scanning 
human  forms  of  sovereignty,  we  shall  discover  the 
filagree  shreds  of  truth,  we  may  be  sure  that  such 
forms,  by  so  much  at  least,  exhibit  types  of  God- 
hood;  which,  after  all,  is  merely  a  concreted,  or- 
ganized aspect  of  universal,  absolute  truth  or 
harmony. 


278      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Consider,  then,  the  first  type  which  human 
sovereignty  assumed — the  patriarchal.  Is  there 
anything  in  this  form  which  corresponds  with  a 
definite  relation  of  God  to  man?  Yes;  it  is  the 
very  relation  which  we  revere  when  we  pray: 
"Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven."  We  may  be 
certain  then  that  this  relationship  is  part  of  God- 
hood, — a  part  that  could  not  have  been  neglected 
by  our  Father  in  the  attainment  of  creative  power. 

But  it  is  not  all  of  Godhood,  nor  even  enough  to 
form  by  itself  a  safe  basis  for  sovereignty.  In 
human  governments  it  failed  because  of  the  nar- 
rowness of  its  base:  men  were  driven  to  sacrifice 
love,  mercy,  even  truth  itself  to  uphold  mere  blood 
or  parenthood  supremacy,  and  consequently  civi- 
lization stood  still. 

In  monarchical  forms  of  sovereignty,  which  fol- 
lowed next,  there  must  be  an  element  of  Godhood, 
since  they  have  been  so  long  and  so  widely  tried  by 
mankind.  That  element  lies  precisely  in  this  cir- 
cumstance :  that  abstract  law,  whether  human  or 
divine,  will  not  execute  itself.  The  king  therefore 
resembles  God  as  executor  of  law. 

Unfortunately, — and  here  lies  the  weakness  of 
monarchy  as  a  basis  for  sovereignty — the  king 
soon  came  to  regard  his  own  will  as  the  sufficient 
source  of  authority.  The  people  were  in  time 
debauched  into  the  same  conception ;  and,  conse- 
quently, as  truth,  honor,  life  itself,  were  made 
subservient  to  the  fear  or  favor  of  kings,  civiliza- 
tion— which,  be  it  remembered,  represents  the 


How  Our  Father  Became  God    279 

progress  of  God's  social  ideals  —  again  stood 
still. 

But  the  direst  evil  resulting  from  this  form,  was 
the  universal  reaction  whereby  God  Himself  came 
to  be  regarded  as  only  a  more  absolute  and  less 
evadable  King  of  kings,  and  the  consequent  power 
it  gave  to  millions  of  priestly  pretenders  in  every 
age  and  place,  to  extort  obedience  to  anything 
which  they  could  persuade  or  terrify  mankind  into 
believing  was  His  will.  And  the  world  is  yet  in 
the  shadow  of  this  awful  curse. 

Nevertheless,  after  all  is  said,  kinghood  is  part 
of  Godhood ;  for  like  the  king,  God  is  supreme  in 
power,  and  from  His  judgments  there  is  no  appeal. 
His  autocracy,  however,  lies  not  in  the  fact  that 
He  is  supreme-by-will,  but  in  the  fact  that  He  is 
supreme-by-law — the  very  incarnation,  as  it  were, 
of  the  truth  and  harmony  of  the  universe;  and 
consequently  he  who  would  escape  falling  "into 
the  hand  of  the  living  God,"  need  only  conform 
to  law  as  it  touches  him  on  all  sides  during  every 
day  of  his  life. 

In  pure  democracy,  the  latest  form  of  power, 
the  basis  of  sovereignty  is  conceived  to  be  the 
abstract  quality  of  truth  or  right ;  in  other  words, 
the  quality  which  became  subservient  by  the 
degeneracy  of  the  patriarchal  and  monarchical 
orders,  is  here,  in  theory  at  least,  made  supreme. 
But  as  truth  or  right  means  nothing  save  as  ap- 
prehended by  an  intelligent  being,  and  as  ex- 
perience proves  that  no  one  being  can  be  trusted 


280      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

to  its  apprehension,  democracy  bases  its  sover- 
eignty on  truth  as  apprehended  by  all  the  people ; 
in  other  words,  upon  what  ought  to  be  the  highest 
conception  of  relative  truth. 

This  is  surely  the  noblest  generalization  of 
sovereignty  yet  attained  by  the  race;  and  how 
near  it  comes  to  ideal  Sovereignty  is  seen  when  we 
remember  that  the  central  fact  of  Godhood  itself 
is  absolute  truth — truth  as  apprehended  by  a  being 
in  perfect  accord  with  the  universe. 

Nor  ought  we  to  lose  sight  of  this  latter  fact 
whenever  we  think  of  God :  for  though  He  is  the 
Father  of  our  spirits,  and  consequently  deserves 
our  love  as  the  supreme  Patriarch;  and  though 
He  is  King  of  kings,  whose  judgment,  we  ought  to 
remember  with  fear  and  trembling,  is  absolute  and 
final;  yet,  as  when  the  people  of  a  republic,  in 
doing  homage  to  their  chief  executive,  reverence 
the  authority  rather  than  him  who  represents  it, 
so  in  our  worship  of  Deity,  it  is  Godhood,  the 
infinite  power  of  the  universe,  rather  than  the 
exalted  Man  who  wields  that  power,  which  should 
receive  our  devotions ;  if,  indeed,  the  two  concepts, 
eternally  united  as  they  are,  can  be  divided  in 
thought  at  all. 

At  first  sight  this  may  seem  a  supercritical  dis- 
tinction ;  but  a  little  reflection  will  show  that  it 
is  a  point  of  view  which  has  tremendous  conse- 
quences in  the  shaping  of  our  lives.  For  one  thing 
in  particular,  it  will  tend  to  cure  that  neurotic 
disease  in  religion  known  as  adoration,  which  is 


How  Our  Father  Became  God    281 

not  truth-worship  but  person -worship ;  and  in 
general  it  will  teach  us  to  reverence  truth,  the 
abstract  relation,  rather  than  the  concrete  forms 
with  which  it  may  be  incidentally  or  temporarily 
related. 

By  this  excursus  into  the  analogies  furnished  by 
human  sovereignties  we  have  perhaps  not  directly 
advanced  our  answer  to  the  question  which  is  the 
thesis  of  this  chapter,  viz.,  How  God  became  God; 
yet  our  time  has  not  been  wasted  if  we  begin  to  see, 
even  glimmeringly,  that  the  answer  is  to  be  sought 
in  life  and  nature,  not  in  occult  speculation ;  that 
in  fact  whatever  is  vital  or  thorough-going  in  the 
relations  which  men  assume  to  each  other,  is 
nothing  other  than  the  reflex  of  that  very  power 
whose  origin  we  are  seeking. 

Coming  back  then  to  our  general  answer,  that 
Godhood  is  the  supreme  and  final  outcome  of 
psychic  evolution,  or  of  eternal  progress,  to  use 
the  phrase  common  to  Mormonism,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  line  of  our  enquiry  is  precisely  this :  that 
if  we  would  know  how  God  became  God,  we  have 
only  to  study  attentively  the  plan  whereby  man 
is  enabled  to  become  perfect  as  his  Father  in 
heaven  is  perfect.  This  plan  has  already  been 
somewhat  exhaustively  laid  before  the  reader  in 
previous  chapters.  Here  I  need  only  make  a 
summary. 

It  is  self-evident,  is  it  not,  that  power  which 
culminates  in  the  ability  to  create  and  control 
a  solar  system  is  attained  only  as  a  progressive 


282       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

acquirement ;  involving  cycles  of  time  of  which, 
indeed,  man  can  form  no  conception ;  but  brought 
about,  nevertheless,  by  processes  of  development 
of  which  the  methods  presented  by  his  present  life 
are  fairly  adequate  samples. 

As  before  pointed  out,  it  is  by  means  of  our  at- 
trition with  environment  that  we  rise  or  fall, — 
counting  by  environment  all  those  forces,  spiritual 
or  otherwise,  not  ourselves,  with  which  the  soul 
comes  into  relations.  If  we  conquer,  we  rise  tow- 
ard Godhood  by  our  added  power ;  if  environment 
conquers, — that  is,  if  we  flinch  or  fail  in  the  trials 
of  life, — we  sink  to  a  lower  plane,  because  we  have 
lost  power. 

Given,  then,  by  our  Father  in  heaven,  an  en- 
vironment progressively  differentiated  so  as  to  be 
matched  with  our  growing  powers ;  given  on  our 
parts  a  steadfastness  of  purpose  which  shall  not 
fail,  no  matter  what  the  temptation — a  purpose 
represented  by  the  mental  attitude,  "  Father,  thy 
will  be  done";  given  as  much  of  eternity  as  we 
shall  need  for  this  psychic  evolution, — and  what 
heights  are  there,  within  the  compass  of  omnipo- 
tence, that  man  cannot  scale? — Consequently, 
what  heights  that  God  did  not  scale  in  order  to 
become  God? 

Note  here  that  the  very  essence  of  victory  over 
environment  consists  in  these  circumstances:  (i) 
that  we  discover  the  law,  or  eternal  significance, 
of  that  which  opposes  us.  This  part  of  our  tri- 
umph we  call  knowledge.  (2)  That  we  put  our 


How  Our  Father  Became  God    283 

own  lives  in  harmony  with  the  law  so  discovered. 
Knowledge  is  thereby  transmuted  into  intelli- 
gence. It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  measure  of 
our  intelligence  at  any  time  represents  the  degree 
to  which  we  have  attained  Godhood :  whence  the 
truth  of  another  aphorism  in  Mormonism  becomes 
apparent:  "The  glory  of  God  is  intelligence." 

There  is  no  other  real  glory  attainable  by  the 
human  race.  The  glories  of  wealth,  or  beauty,  or 
place,  after  which  we  mortals  strive  so  madly,  are 
mere  shams — pitiful,  temporary  counterfeits- 
compared  with  the  power  of  Godhood;  for  the 
glory  of  intelligence  is  the  glory  of  manhood  and 
womanhood,  the  glory  of  virility  and  power,  and 
not  of  pretension ;  in  short,  the  glory  of  character. 
The  weakness  of  our  civilization — though  it  is  the 
strongest  the  world  has  ever  seen — still  lies  in 
this — that  ten  thousand  colleges  and  a  million 
books  enable  us  to  see  this  glory  but  not  to  possess 
it ;  the  education  of  the  age  teaches  us  to  know, 
but  does  not  give  us  the  backbone  necessary  to  do. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE    FULLNESS   OF    PRIESTHOOD    IS    GODHOOD 

LET  us  now  consider  more  attentively  the  na- 
ture of  those  reciprocal  relations,  whereby 
God,  on  the  one  hand,  prepares  the  environment 
for  man's  ascent,  points  out  the  way  of  using  it, 
and  even  lends  him  the  very  power  by  which  to 
rise ;  and  whereby  man,  on  the  other  hand,  stead- 
fastly subordinates  his  desires  to  his  expanding 
sense  of  truth  and  right,  making  it  the  law  of  his 
life  to  say:  "  Father,  thy  will,  not  mine,  be  done." 

It  is  very  evident  not  only  that  co-operation 
between  Instructor  and  instructed  could  not  be 
closer,  but  also  that  without  just  such  co-opera- 
tion it  would  be  impossible  for  man  to  become 
perfect  as  his  Father  is  perfect.  "Without  me," 
said  Christ,  "ye  can  do  nothing" — a  truth  which 
He  enforced  by  this  parable:  "  I  am  the  vine,  ye 
are  the  branches :  as  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit 
of  itself,  except  it  abide  in  the  vine;  neither  can 
ye,  except  ye  abide  in  me"  (John  xv.,  45). 

No  reasoning  could  be  more  cogent.  As  well 
cut  off  a  branch  and  expect  it  to  mature  on  its  own 
account  into  a  perfect  tree,  as  to  expect  from  any 

284 


Priesthood  is  Godhood  285 

man,  turned  loose  in  the  universe  and  refusing 
divine  guidance,  that  he  will  in  the  end  attain  to 
Godhood. 

Let  us  not,  however,  be  of  that  narrow  type  of 
thinkers  who  believe  that  such  reciprocal  rela- 
tions between  God  and  man  are  not  possible,  to  a 
limited  extent  at  least,  unless  a  man  accepts  the 
rites  of  religion.  Darwin,  Huxley,  Tyndall,  Spen- 
cer,— all  the  great  naturalists, — are  prophets  in 
their  way,  as  much  as  was  Moses  and  Isaiah ;  for 
did  they  not  bring  truth  into  the  world?  Very 
important  truth ;  truth  that  in  one  short  century 
has  transformed  the  civilization  of  the  world. 

What  though  they  did  not  recognize  the  true 
God?  It  is  rather  creditable  to  their  integrity- 
considering  the  impossible  creature  theologians 
made  Him.  Infidels,  however,  they  were  not; 
for,  if  they  were  agnostic  as  to  the  Law-giver, 
none  surpassed  them  in  reverence  for  the  law; 
and  so  their  Father  in  heaven,  to  whom  they  were 
blind  in  life,  led  them  by  the  hand  along  rich  paths 
of  truth  and  will  still  lead. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  impossible  that  the  laborers 
in  the  vineyard  should  go  on  forever  without 
coming  face  to  face  with  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard ; 
and  so  the  time  is  inevitable  when  these  great 
lovers  of  truth  must  recognize  with  Whom,  not 
merely  with  what,  they  have  been  in  co-operation. 
Then  they  will  have  to  make  covenants  directly 
with  God,  as  one  man  with  another,  according  to 
the  rites  and  ordinances  of  the  Gospel.  Should 


286      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

they  refuse,  how  could  God  assist  them  further  in 
the  acquirement  of  psychic  power?  For  would 
He  not,  by  doing  so,  be  directly  building  up  a 
power  antagonistic  to  the  unity  and  harmony  of 
the  universe?  He  not  only  would  not — He  could 
not  do  so;  and,  therefore,  these  men  would  from 
that  day  begin  the  process  of  undoing  themselves. 
Being  in  opposition  to  God,  they  would  have  ar- 
rayed against  them  all  the  positive  forces  of  the 
universe,  and  who  could  stand  under  such  circum- 
stances? For  God,  being  the  Creator  of  our  en- 
vironments, is  essentially  the  universe  to  us. 

It  holds,  therefore,  as  an  absolute  generaliza- 
tion, that  without  the  Gospel  or  plan  of  salvation, 
no  being  can  complete  his  psychic  evolution.  As 
to  what  the  initiatory  steps  of  this  plan  are, — the 
laws  of  adoption  into  the  kingdom  of  God, — I 
must  refer  the  reader  to  previous  chapters.  Here 
I  desire  to  take  up  the  theme  implied  by  Paul 
when  he  said:  " Wherefore  let  us  cease  to  speak 
of  the  first  principles  of  Christ,  and  press  on  to 
perfection;  not  laying  again  a  foundation  of  re- 
pentance from  dead  works,  and  of  faith  toward 
God,  of  the  teaching  of  baptisms,  and  of  laying 
on  of  hands,  and  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
and  of  eternal  judgment:  and  this  will  we  do,  if 
God  permit." 

As  already  pointed  out  elsewhere,  Mormonism, 
so  far  from  contemplating  a  vacuous,  inane  future, 
characterized  by  idleness,  and  relieved  only  by 
the  doubtful  diversion  of 'golden  harps  and  the 


Priesthood  is  Godhood  287 

"beatific  vision,"  looks  forward  to  an  after  life 
filled  with  untrammelled  opportunities  for  noble 
endeavor:  the  scientific  investigation,  or  analysis 
and  synthesis,  of  all  that  goes  to  make  up  world- 
building;  the  development  of  more  and  more 
perfect  social  relations  for  mankind;  and  the 
gradual  integration  of  the  psychic  life  of  this 
planet,  with  the  perfect  life  of  other  spheres.  For, 
in  the  ultimate  outcome  of  man,  no  perfection  is  to 
be  attained  by  miraculous  endowment.  Causes 
must  ever  be  adequate  to  effects. 

During  these  ages  of  preparation  he  is  to  be  a 
co-worker  with  angels  in  carrying  out  the  plans  of 
the  Creator.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  from  the 
moment  he  makes  covenants  as  a  conscious  co- 
operator  with  Deity,  he  becomes  an  agent  of  the 
Almighty;  and  in  order  that  his  acts  shall  have 
the  same  eternal  significance  that  they  would 
were  they  performed  by  divine  Authority  itself, 
they  must  be  done  by  God's  sanction.  In  other 
words,  the  Father  must  delegate  to  him  part  of 
His  Godhood ;  which  looked  at  from  man's  point  of 
view  becomes  Priesthood. 

From  my  thesis,  "The  fullness  of  Priesthood 
is  Godhood,"  may  be  drawn  the  inference  that  the 
attainment  of  Godhood  is  through  successive  de- 
grees of  Priesthood.  But  hitherto  the  thought 
has  been  maintained  that  this  supreme  outcome 
of  evolution  is  attained  by  man  to  the  extent,  and 
only  to  the  extent,  that  he  discovers  and  obeys 
law.  What  is  the  meaning,  then,  of  its  being 


288      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

attained  through  the  medium  of  ordination  ?  Sim- 
ply this :  Priesthood  is  God's  official  sanction  for 
man's  use  of  the  degree  of  Godhood  with  which 
his  obedience  to  law  has  invested  him.  Put  it  in 
this  way:  A  man  by  assiduous  devotion  to  legal 
training  has  fitted  himself,  say,  for  the  position  of 
judge  on  the  Supreme  Bench ;  in  other  words,  the 
power  of  judgehood,  to  coin  a  word,  is  in  him; 
but  that  does  not  make  him  judge, — the  Presi- 
dent's appointment  only  can  do  that.  In  like 
manner,  the  ordination  of  a  man  to  the  Priesthood 
is  God's  recognition  of  his  right  to  win  and  use,  by 
devotion  to  truth,  so  much  of  Godhood. 

Painfully  aware  as  I  am  of  the  trivial  and  arti- 
ficial associations  which  the  word  priesthood 
must  arouse  through  the  reader's  acquaintance 
with  its  use  in  history,  literature,  and  contem- 
porary religions,  I  hesitated  long  before  using  it 
to  signify  divine  authority,  or  God's  official  sanc- 
tion of  man's  attainments  through  self -effort.  I 
shall  be  pardoned,  therefore,  if  I  take  a  little  time 
to  enlarge  and  dignify  the  connotation  of  the  word 
in  this  new  sense. 

Hitherto  he  can  have  understood  the  word  at 
best  as  standing  for  an  order  of  men  set  apart  to 
administer  rites  and  ordinances,  which,  though 
unrelated  or  but  superficially  related  to  life  itself, 
are  supposed  to  be  vital  to  man's  welfare  in  the 
hereafter.  In  Mormonism,  Priesthood  is  the 
badge  or  official  sign  of  that  conscious  co-opera- 
tion between  God  and  man  above  referred  to, 


Priesthood  is  Godhood  289 

without  which  his  psychic  evolution  is,  as  we  have 
seen,  impossible ;  not  a  mere  tacit  feeling  that  he 
is  so  related  to  God,  but  a  real,  vital  contract  en- 
tered into  by  sacred  covenant  in  holy  places. 

Accordingly,  all  male  members  of  the  Church 
in  good  standing  hold  some  degree  of  the  Priest- 
hood; for  every  man  is  equally  entitled  to  God's 
co-operation  and  guidance  in  the  fruition  of  his 
psychic  life.  And  since  such  fruition  involves  all 
aspects  of  law,  officiation  by  authority  of  this 
sacred  endowment  is  not  confined  to  spiritual 
matters  alone:  whatever  in  life  affects  the  tem- 
poral or  eternal  welfare  of  man  may  come  under 
the  guardianship  and  care  of  this  divine  invest- 
ment. Indeed,  as  Priesthood  is  God's  license  for 
the  ultimate  attainment  of  Godhood,  every  man 
holding  the  sacred  office  must,  if  he  realizes  its 
solemn  obligations,  halt  and  ask,  "Would  God  do 
the  thing  in  contemplation?"  ere  he  ventures  to 
act  upon  it.  Needless  to  confess,  however,  that 
in  this,  as  in  all  other  endeavors  toward  righteous- 
ness, practice  at  best  only  falters  after  precept. 

By  degrees  of  the  Priesthood,  mentioned  above, 
are  meant  the  various  offices  established  by 
Christ,  viz.,  Deacons,  Priests,  Teachers,  Elders, 
Seventies,  High  Priests,  Apostles,  and  so  on. 
Each  has  its  range  of  duties  in  relation  to  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  Church  as  a 
social  organization;  but  the  Priesthood,  out  of 
which  these  offices  grow,  has,  as  shown  above,  an 
eternal  significance  to  the  bearer  himself, — or  else 


290      The  Science  cf  Mormonism 

no  significance  whatever,  according  to  whether  or 
not  he  magnifies  its  possibilities.  The  Priesthood 
of  an  Elder,  for  instance,  is  God's  license  for  such 
a  range  of  activities  in  the  winning  of  Godhood, 
that  a  million  years  of  psychic  evolution  will  not 
exhaust  them ;  yet  the  ordination  itself  adds  noth- 
ing to  the  man's  inherent  power ;  it  only  gives  him 
opportunity. 

The  assertion,  sometimes  made,  that  Mormon- 
ism  believes  salvation  and  exaltation  can  be  won 
by  the  laying  on  of  hands  will  thus  be  seen  to  be 
a  slander.  The  position  of  the  Church  is  this: 
while  rites  and  ordinations  add  nothing  in  and  of 
themselves,  yet  are  salvation  and  exaltation  im- 
possible without  them;  for,  as  we  have  seen, 
psychic  perfection  depends  absolutely  upon  God's 
co-operation;  but  God,  being  a  perfected  man 
and  not  a  vague  abstraction,  enters  into  co-opera- 
tion with  lesser  psychic  beings  by  definite  contract ; 
rites  and  ordinations  are  His  divinely  appointed 
tokens  of  such  contract.  Being  therefore  essen- 
tial to  God's  co-operation,  they  are  essential  to 
man's  salvation  and  exaltation ;  and  consequently 
the  man  who  will  not  make  definite  covenants 
with  God — he  who  vaguely  trusts  that  if  he  lives 
a  good,  honest  life,  things  will  come  out  all  right  in 
the  end — may  not  lose  eternal  life, — since  there 
are  a  million  lower  altitudes  while  only  one  sum- 
mit ;  but  he  will  surely  fail  of  becoming  perfect  as 
God  is  perfect. 

I  have  just  stated  that  the  reception  of  Priest- 


Priesthood  is  Godhood  291 

hood  adds  no  power  to  a  man.  This  needs 
qualification.  While  it  does  not  increase  the 
man's  innate  capacity  or  ability,  it  gives  him 
dominion,  and  with  dominion  a  key  to  the  use  of 
God's  power  through  the  medium  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Of  two  men  possessed  of  equal  dominance 
by  natural  acquirement,  the  one  holding  the 
Priesthood  can  do  things  which  the  other  must 
not  attempt.  This  general  truth  was  illustrated 
by  an  incident  in  the  life  of  Paul.  The  Apostle 
had  been  casting  out  devils  in  the  name  of  Jesus, 
when  certain  sons  of  one  Sceva,  a  Jewish  high 
priest,  attempted  to  imitate  him.  The  result  was 
disastrous.  "Jesus  I  know,"  cried  the  evil 
spirit,  "and  Paul  I  know;  but  who  are  ye?  And 
the  man  in  whom  the  evil  spirit  was,  leaped  upon 
them,  and  overcame  them,  and  prevailed  against 
them,  so  that  they  fled  out  of  that  house  naked 
and  wounded." 

Now  as  to  the  question  of  dominion  resulting 
from  the  attainment  of  Priesthood,  is  not  this 
precisely  what  John  the  Revelator  meant  when 
he  said  we  should  become  "kings  and  priests  unto 
God  the  Father"  and  reign  forever  and  ever  on 
the  earth?  (i.,  6  and  v.,  10).  Peter,  in  like  man- 
ner (I  Epistle  ii.,  5,  9),  speaks  of  the  saints  as  "an 
elect  race,  a  royal  Priesthood"  But  Priesthood 
without  dominion  is  meaningless;  and  Paul,  as 
well  as  John  in  the  above  quoted  passage,  sug- 
gests the  dominion,  when  he  tells  us  that  Christ's 
eternal  place  is  above  all  "principality  and  power, 


292       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

and  might,  and  dominion"  (Eph.  i.,  4),  whether 
in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to  come.  What, 
then,  are  these  principalities  and  powers  in  the 
world  to  come,  if  not  subordinate  delegations  of 
divine  authority?  And  if  they  are  such  delega- 
tions then  they  must  be  forms  of  dominion  exer- 
cised by  man  in  virtue  of  the  attainment  of 
Priesthood. 

Again,  what  could  be  the  purpose  of  such  do- 
minion, other  than  the  dispensation  to  man  of 
opportunities  for  the  attainment  of  perfection? 
That  Peter,  Paul,  and  John  saw  these  opportu- 
nities only  in  their  aspect  of  social  evolution  was 
quite  in  keeping  with  the  bias  of  their  time.  The 
natural  world  meant  nothing,  or  little  more  than 
nothing,  to  the  ancients.  We,  with  clearer  vision, 
feel  now  that  to  be  a  great  scientist,  a  great  in- 
ventor, is  intrinsically  more  Godlike  than  to  be  a 
great  king ;  and  hence,  by  parity  of  reasoning,  we 
include  in  God's  dispensations  of  dominion  to  man, 
opportunities  for  doing  and  becoming,  not  only  in 
the  social  world,  but  also  in  the  natural  world,— 
in  short,  in  all  other  aspects  which  constitute  su- 
preme creative  power. 

My  point,  however,  so  far  as  this  chapter  is  con- 
cerned, is  this:  Part  of  Priesthood  is  invariably 
dominion;  and  all  of  dominion,  when  it  results 
from  divine  authority,  is  Priesthood.  If  I  can 
show  a  similar  correlation  in  respect  of  Godhood, 
then  my  thesis  will  be  established.  Such  corre- 
lation must  be  seen  by  direct  intuition,  if  seen  at 


Priesthood  is  Godhood  293 

all.  I  ask  then,  Is  not  the  universe  related  to  God, 
as  God  is  related  to  man?  When  He  began  the 
work  of  creating  the  solar  system,  was  it  not  by  a 
dispensation  of  dominion?  Is  it  thinkable  that 
He  could  create  out  of  harmony,  and  without 
reference  to  the  unity,  of  the  universe?  Plainly, 
it  is  not. 

Dominion  is  part  of  Godhood,  then,  just  as  it 
is  part  of  Priesthood;  and  these  two  ideas  are 
therefore  related  as  my  thesis  indicates.  But  do 
you  realize  the  significance  of  this  conclusion  ?  It 
means  this:  that  Priesthood,  though  it  is  a  dis- 
pensation of  God  to  man,  is  not  something  created 
by  God;  it  is  part  of  the  infinite  constitution  of 
the  universe  itself.  It  is  Godhood  in  small — God- 
hood  to  the  extent  that  man's  perfections  fit  him 
to  wield  it ;  *  in  other  words,  it  is  an  eternal 

1  Incidentally,  and.  by  way  of  correcting  a  widely  adver- 
tised misinterpretation  of  Mormonism,  attention  is  called  to 
the  conception  that  any  man  holding  the  Priesthood  and 
actually  exercising  the  functions  of  divine  authority,  is 
virtually  God  within  the  limits  of  that  authority;  in  the 
same  sense  that  an  officer  of  the  government  is  virtually 
President  of  the  United  States,  within  the  legitimate  scope 
of  his  office.  Mormonism  holds  no  man  infallible — God  only 
is  that;  nevertheless  the  official  acts  of  the  Priesthood,  if 
based  on  righteousness  and  within  the  scope  of  the  authority 
delegated  by  God — are  infallible, — as  much  so,  as  if  God 
Himself  had  done  them.  This  ought  to  make  clear  an  ex- 
clamation by  Brigham  Young,  to  the  effect  that  "Adam  is 
our  father  and  our  God  and  the  only  God  with  whom  we 
shall  have  [immediately]  to  do."  That  He  is  our  father  must 
be  plain  to  believers  in  the  Bible;  that  He  is  our  God,  in  the 
sense  that  He  will  forever  preside  over  the  world  that  He 


294      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

relation  of  intelligence ;  which  fact  I  shall  conclude 
by  showing  is  also  revealed  in  Scripture. 

The  reader  cannot  but  have  wondered  at  that 
curious  passage  in  Hebrews  (vii.,  i,  2,  3),  wherein 
Melchisedek,  king  of  (Jeru)  Salem,  "priest  of  the 
Most  High  God  .  .  .  being  first  by  interpre- 
tion  king  of  righteousness,  and  after  that  .  .  . 
king  of  peace," — is  declared  to  be  "  without  father, 
without  mother,  without  descent,  having  neither 
beginning  of  days  nor  end  of  life :  but  made  like 
unto  the  son  of  God ;  abideth  a  priest  continually." 
He  can  hardly  so  far  have  stultified  his  intelligence 
as  to  have  believed  these  categories  true  of  Mel- 
chisedek, the  man;  they  are  easily  reconcilable 
of  Melchisedek,  the  Priest.  What,  indeed,  can  the 
words,  "made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God," — mean 
other  than  this:  that  as  Christ  received  the  full- 
ness of  Godhood,  so  Melchisedek  received  part; 
both  of  which  (as  this  discussion  has,  I  hope, 
made  plain)  are  literally  and  truly,  "without 
father,  without  mother,  without  descent;  having 
neither  beginning  of  days  nor  end  of  life," — in 
other  words  eternal. 

peopled,  ought  not  to  be  a  stumbling  block;  for  such  rever- 
ence to  Adam  in  no  way  derogates  from  our  Father  in  heaven, 
the  Creator  of  many  systems  of  worlds,  nor  from  Jesus  Christ, 
who  by  the  appointment  of  the  Father  is  supreme  ruler  over 
many  worlds  including  our  own. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

IF    NOT    MORMONISM — WHAT? 

TO  Latter-day  Saints  who  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  looking  at  the  human  race  as  ex- 
hibiting while  on  earth  the  essential  present,  or 
time-link,  in  an  endless  chain  of  divine  being,  the 
conclusions  reached  in  the  preceding  chapters  will 
be  regarded  quite  as  matters  of  fact;  but  to  the 
modern  Christian  world,  long  imbued  with  the 
notion  that  mankind  is  a  subsidiary  creation,— 
an  order  of  being  quite  different  from  and  inferior 
to  that  of  God  Himself,  I  can  well  imagine  they 
will  seem  little  short  of  blasphemous ;  and  there- 
fore, also  that,  though  they  cannot  be  refuted, 
they  will  not  readily  be  believed  and  accepted. 

It  seems  pertinent,  therefore,  to  close  the  dis- 
cussion with  a  chapter  based  on  this  point  of  view : 
Granted  that  these  conclusions  are  false,  what 
follows?  What  other  teleological  vistas,  forward 
and  backward,  are  left  to  the  race? 

As  a  preliminary,  it  may  be  remarked  that 
whatever  be  the  nature  of  those  other  vistas,— 
however  unscientific  they  may  seem  by  com- 
parison— any  holding  of  them  up  to  view  will  not 

295 


296      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

materially  affect  the  multiplication  of  religions; 
for  in  respect  of  the  tenet-creating  tendency 
human  beings  may  not  unfitly  be  likened  to  a 
thrifty  young  orchard.  The  religious  feeling  is  in 
them  even  as  the  sap  is  in  the  trees, — a  sort  of 
dumb,  emotional  potentiality  ever  seeking  oppor- 
tunity to  express  itself  in  forms  of  devotion. 

Now,  as  there  is  evidently  a  natural  evolution 
of  the  trees — into  forms  representing  God's  ideals, 
and  crowned  with  luscious  fruit;  so  there  must 
evidently  be  a  natural  evolution  of  this  religious 
feeling.  And  as  a  judicious  orchardist  can,  by 
proper  digging  and  pruning,  materially  assist  the 
unfolding  and  fructivity  of  the  trees,  so  there  is 
manifestly  a  place  for  the  pastor  in  the  natural 
and  spiritual  evolution  of  mankind. 

But  note  now  the  alternative :  if  the  orchardist 
be  actuated  by  artificial  ideas,  he  may  prune  the 
growing  tendency  of  his  trees  into  all  sorts  of 
abortive  forms — resembling  nothing  else  in  the 
natural  world;  with  this  penalty,  however,  that 
he  will  get  no  fruit.  So  also  may  the  religious  en- 
thusiast,— guided  by  fantastic  interpretations  of 
Scripture,  or  the  still  more  erratic  conclusions  of 
occult  speculation, — prune  and  shape  the  emo- 
tional tendencies  of  his  congregation.  May — did 
I  say?  Has, — does ;  for  how  else  can  you  account 
for  the  ten  thousand  varieties  of  psychic  contor- 
tion that  pass  and  have  passed  for  religion  among 
mankind  ? 

That  such  abortive  religions  will  never  yield 


If  Not  Mormonism — What  ?      297 

fruits  of  eternal  life — and  by  such  fruits  I  mean 
increased  present  power  in  the  individual :  phy- 
sically, intellectually,  socially,  morally,  and 
spiritually — is  best  proved  by  the  fact  that  they 
generally  postpone  such  fruits  to  a  hypothetical 
future ;  whereas,  it  is  next  thing  to  a  truism  that 
the  religion  which  does  not  yield  its  rewards 
in  the  heaven  of  the  Here  and  Now,  will  never— 
because  it  can  never — yield  them  in  eternity. 

What,  then,  is  the  remedy  for  abortive  religion- 
making?  Precisely  the  same  as  that  which  we 
have  already  applied  to  abortive  tree-culture. 
That  remedy  is  to  let  God  be  true  for  every  man ; 
in  other  words,  to  let  nature  alone, — which  in- 
volves rinding  out  what  is  nature,  and  then  re- 
moving all  artificial  obstructions,  so  that  she  may 
be  alone.  Are  men  less  subject  to  natural  law 
than  trees?  Do  we  prune  and  shape  a  growing 
tree  by  the  speculations  of  seers  and  Mahatmas — 
or  the  vagaries  of  Christian  Science?  Then,  in 
God's  name,  let  us  cease  ignoring  the  laws  of 
nature  which  constitute  man's  physical  and 
spiritual  environment;  cease  calling  phenomena 
illusions — cease  to  go  whoring  after  phantasmal 
"realities." 

For  if  anything  is  fixed  and  certain,  it  is  this: 
that  he  who  rises  above  his  present  environment — 
his  present  sum  total  of  impinging  phenomena,  if 
you  please — is  prepared  for  a  higher,  nobler 
sphere, — a  sphere  more  difficult,  and  therefore 
more  full  of  truth  surprises.  And  the  evidence  is 


298      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

this,  that  his  power  of  bliss  is  within  him — not 
stored  away  in  a  hypothetical  heaven;  and  he 
who  lets  present  environments  rise  above  him, 
must  inevitably  sink  to  a  lower,  cruder,  more 
monotonous  level.  And  again  the  evidence  is 
this,  that  his  weakness  or  damnation  is  within 
him — not  locked  up  in  some  hypothetical  hell. 

Mormonism  in  taking  such  a  stand  merely 
voices  what  seem  obviously  the  principles  of 
common  sense.  They  are,  in  fact,  the  principles 
which  must  underlie  the  application  of  scientific 
thinking  to  matters  religious.  If  such  thinking 
were  made  the  criterion  of  religious  truth,  how, 
like  punctured  wind-bags,  would  the  swelling 
spiritual  "isms"  of  the  day  fall  flat  over  the  face 
of  the  earth! 

To  have  weight  or  effect,  however,  such  think- 
ing would  have  to  be  applied  by  the  religion- 
makers  themselves,  scientists  being  regarded  as 
the  natural  enemies  of  religion.  But  if  religious 
leaders  were  fitted  by  scientific  training  for  such 
thinking,  there  would  be  no  gas-blown  theories 
of  salvation  to  puncture.  Men  would  have  recog- 
nized long  ago  the  natural  connection  between 
this  world  of  ours  with  its  varied  phenomena  and 
the  education  of  the  human  soul  for  eternal  life. 

It  will  thus  be  found  that  religions  of  the  un- 
scientific kind  have  no  teleological  vistas  either  of 
the  past  or  of  the  future ;  merely  a  precipitous 
starting-point,  creation,  with  no  indication  of 
how  or  why,  a  more  or  less  artificial  earth-life,  in 


If  Not  Mormonism — What  ?      299 

which  the  supreme  good  seems  to  be  to  get  as  little 
entangled  with  things  earthly  as  possible,  and 
lastly  a  final  jump  off — into  heaven  or  hell.  And 
as  to  the  significance  of  these  final  states,  we  get 
little  more  of  rational  perspective  than  is  contained 
in  the  child's  "good-place"  and  "bad-place."  It 
is  true  that,  of  heaven  and  hell  word-painting,  de- 
signed to  dazzle  or  terrorize  the  sinner,  we  have 
lurid  examples  enough  in  the  sermons  of  revival- 
ism ;  but  the  moment  they  are  subjected  to  three 
consecutive  scientific  questions,  they  shrivel  and 
fade  into  what  they  are — mere  reckless  products 
of  imagination  gone  mad. 

And  it  is  for  this  reason,  no  doubt,  that  the  re- 
ligions of  the  day  deny  the  right  of  science  to 
question  them.  The  domain  of  religion  is  postu- 
lated as  being  a  vague  spiritual  country  beyond 
the  territory  of  reason ;  whose  methods  of  cultiva- 
tion are  so  diverse  from  those  of  the  intellectual 
that  they  present  no  analogies  even,  let  alone 
examples,  of  common  ground.  Even  so  astute  a 
thinker  as  W.  T.  Harris,  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Education,  in  an  article  opposing  reli- 
gious instruction  in  the  public  schools,  recently 
published  in  a  prominent  journal,  has  fallen  into 
this  psychological  error,  saying: 

The  principle  of  religious  instruction  is  authority; 
that  of  secular  instruction  is  demonstration  and  veri- 
fication. It  is  obvious  that  these  two  principles 
should  not  be  brought  into  the  same  school,  but 


300      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

separated  as  widely  as  possible.  Religious  truth  is 
revealed  in  allegoric  and  symbolic  form,  and  is  to 
be  apprehended  not  merely  by  the  intellect,  but  by 
the  imagination  and  the  heart.  The  analytic-under- 
standing is  necessarily  hostile  and  skeptical  in  its 
attitude  toward  religious  truth.  The  pupil  is  taught 
in  mathematics  to  love  demonstration  and  logical 
proof,  and  he  is  taught  in  history  to  verify  the  sources 
and  to  submit  all  tradition  to  probabilities  of  common 
experience.  The  facts  of  common  experience  dealing 
with  the  ordinary  operations  of  causality  are  not 
sufficient  to  serve  as  symbols  of  what  is  spiritual. 
They  are  opaque  facts  and  do  not  serve  for  symbols; 
symbols  are  facts  which  serve  as  lenses  with  which  to 
see  divine  things.  On  themes  so  elevated  as  those 
religious  faith  deals  with,  the  habit  of  thinking  culti- 
vated in  secular  instruction  is  out  of  place.  Even 
the  attitude  of  mind  cultivated  in  secular  instruction 
is  unfitted  for  the  approach  to  religious  truth.  Re- 
ligious instruction  should  be  surrounded  with  solem- 
nity. It  should  be  approached  with  ceremonial 
preparations  so  as  to  lift  up  the  mind  to  the  dignity 
of  the  lesson  received. 

When  we  consider  the  nature  of  the  ultimate 
facts  which  religionists  seek  to  maintain,  there  is 
small  wonder  that  they  are  driven  to  such  dilem- 
mas as  the  above  respecting  the  nature  of  spiritual 
life.  The  God  they  postulate  is  so  unlike  any 
concept  of  experience  that,  by  their  own  confes- 
sion, He  transcends  all  analogy.  Indeed,  "  A  God 
understood  is  a  God  dethroned,"  has  long  stood 
for  a  truism  among  them.  Nevertheless,  they 


If  Not  Mormonism  —  What  ? 


are  driven,  perforce,  to  make  this  primal  Mystery 
act,  since  the  world  is  to  be  created  and  peopled, 
and  religion  must  somehow  come  to  bless  man- 
kind. Accordingly,  they  postulate  subaltern  mys- 
teries, one  after  another;  such  as,  that  the  earth 
was  made  out  of  nothing;  that  man's  soul  is  the 
breath  of  Deity;  that  the  transition  between  the 
natural  and  the  spiritual  world  is  abysmal;  that 
man  is  saved  solely  by  the  merits  of  Jesus  without 
reference  to  works  ;  that  heaven  is  so  unlike  earth 
that  we  can  form  no  conception  of  it  ;  and  so  on 
through  all  the  vague  categories  of  modern 
Christianity. 

And  as  is  their  conception  of  God,  so  of  a  piece 
are  all  its  corollaries  ;  with  the  result  that  religion 
has  become  a  ghostly  creature,  compelled  to  lurk 
only  in  those  dark  corners  where  the  light  of 
science  cannot  penetrate,  and  its  priests  a  body 
of  soothsayers  afraid  to  speak  with  authority,  save 
on  matters  beyond  the  province  of  verification  ; 
or  else  it  has  degenerated  into  a  system  of  sym- 
bolism demanding  constant  soul-stultification  on 
the  part  of  its  adherents  :  the  holding  of  opposite 
views  in  science  and  faith,  —  justified  on  the  thin 
assumption  that  the  two  planes  of  being  are  dif- 
ferent ! 

Contrast  with  all  this  vacuity  the  positiveness 
of  Mormonism,  —  the  logical  inevitableness  of  its 
doctrines  ;  and  instead  of  the  mechanical  cosmog- 
ony of  sectarianism,  opposed  alike  to  science  and 
reason,  trace  through  the  scheme  of  salvation,  as 


302       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

taught  by  Latter-day  Saints,  that  same  golden 
thread  which  has  unified  the  researches  of  science, 
the  principle  of  evolution,  or,  as  we  call  it,  the 
principle  of  eternal  progress;  not  evolution  drift- 
ing along  the  line  of  least  resistance,  but  evolution 
directed  at  every  step  by  creative  intelligence: 
Then  ask  yourself  this  question:  " If  Mormonism 
does  not  present  the  true  scheme  of  salvation, 
where  shall  man  turn  to  find  it? " 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

WHAT   SECTARIANISM   HAS   TO   OFFER 

IN  connection  with  the  theme  of  the  last  chapter, 
call  to  mind  the  fact  that  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  was  the  one  and  only 
religion  in  all  the  world  denied  representation  in 
the  World's  Congress  of  Religions  during  the  late 
Chicago  Fair.  Was  it  not  an  unique,  an  enviable 
distinction  to  have  thrust  upon  us  ?  Christ  spoke 
of  a  certain  rock  which  had  been  rejected  by  all 
the  builders,  but  which  nevertheless  became  the 
chief  corner-stone.  Can  you  blame  the  Mormons 
for  the  unalterable  conviction  that  in  the  restora- 
tion, through  Joseph  Smith,  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  its  pristine  purity,  and  with  all  its  keys 
and  powers,  including  authority  to  officiate  in  His 
name,  God  is  fulfilling  anew  that  very  striking 
prediction? 

And  speaking  of  the  modern  builders'  rejecting 
this  stone  of  Mormonism,  brings  me  to  a  con- 
sideration again  of  the  occasion  which  led  to  the 
writing  of  this  book :  the  concerted  movements  of 
various  ministerial  bodies  with  a  view  to  "crush- 
ing" out  our  non -conformity.  I  trust  that  I  have 

303 


304       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

given  these  zealous  imitators  of  Christ  some  ra- 
tional idea  of  the  real  work  before  them.  I  hope 
that  they  will  realize  that  the  mud-slinging  which 
they  have  indulged  in  during  the  past, — the 
Danite  canards,  the  Mountain  Meadow  horror 
(deplored  as  much  by  Mormon  as  by  Gentile),  and 
the  charges  of  Mormon  ignorance  and  immorality, 
—will  not  suffice  to  aid  them  with  any  candid 
reader  of  these  pages :  They  must  meet  the  truths 
and  arguments  here  set  forth,  or  go  back  to  their 
wooden  creeds  defeated. 

Will  they  attempt  it?  No.  Judged  by  their 
past  record,  they  will  appeal  again  to  the  refuge  of 
lies;  they  -will  cull  some  fragments  from  this 
treatise  which  lend  themselves  to  distortion  and 
misrepresentation.  These,  taken  from  the  con- 
text, they  will  overthrow  and  cover  with  ridicule, 
and  then  pose  as  champions.  I  do  not  speak 
thus  bitterly  against  ministers  in  general;  only 
against  the  tribe  that  conceive  it  to  be  evidence 
of  holiness  to  attack  and  vilify  the  Mormons. 
May  God  still  give  me  charity  to  remember  that 
they  are  my  brethren ! 

Mormonism  presents  to  the  world  a  new  point 
of  view  for  studying  the  meaning  of  life ;  a  point 
of  view  so  marvellous  in  its  reach  that  it  encom- 
passes and  ties  together  in  one  vast,  rational  unity 
all  the  truths  known  to  the  race. 

But  curiously  enough,  the  ministers  that  come 
among  us  are  the  last  people  on  earth  who  are 
willing  or  able  to  appreciate  this  point  of  view. 


What  Sectarianism  Offers        305 

Such  has  been  the  nature  of  their  education  for 
the  ministry  that  Mormonism  offends  them  at 
every  point.  " Egregious  materialism!"  they 
exclaim.  It  is  the  only  relief  they  can  find  for 
their  offended  sense  of  ministerial  dignity.1 

Poor  stuffed  and  starched  automatons  of  the 

1  "  In  the  days  of  Joseph,  to  appear  like  a  Prophet  a  man 
should,  according  to  the  popular  idea,  wear  a  long  beard, 
long  hair,  and  dress  in  an  outlandish  style.  If  he  did  not 
wash  himself  and  clean  and  pare  his  nails,  it  would  be  all 
the  better.  He  should  not  smile  and  be  merry.  When  he 
spoke,  his  voice  should  be  deep  and  solemn ;  when  he  walked, 
his  tread  should  be  slow  and  measured.  If  he  lived  in  a  cave 
it  would  suit  many  people  better  than  if  he  lived  in  a  house. 
He  should  be  different  from  other  men  in  every  respect. 

"Of  course  those  who  had  these  ideas  of  what  a  Prophet 
should  be,  were  much  disappointed  in  Joseph;  for  if  a 
Prophet  should  talk,  dress,  and  act  in  this  manner,  he  was 
very  unlike  one.  He  wore  no  beard,  did  not  have  long  hair, 
and  was  very  cleanly  in  his  person;  he  dressed  with  taste, 
had  a  pleasant  face,  a  sweet  smile,  a  cheerful  and  joyous 
manner,  and  was  natural.  He  was  the  very  opposite  of  what 
a  religious  bigot  would  think  a  Prophet  ought  to  be ;  and  he 
never  took  any  pains  to  be  otherwise. 

"He  was  a  great  hater  of  shams.  He  disliked  long- faced 
hypocrisy,  and  numerous  stories  are  told  of  his  peculiar  man- 
ner of  rebuking  it.  He  knew  that  what  many  people  call  sin 
is  not  sin,  and  he  did  many  things  to  break  down  superstition. 
He  would  wrestle,  play  ball,  and  enjoy  himself  in  physical 
exercises,  and  he  knew  that  he  was  not  committing  sin  in  so 
doing.  The  religion  of  heaven  is  not  to  make  men  sorrowful, 
not  to  curtail  their  enjoyment,  and  to  make  them  groan,  and 
sigh,  and  wear  long  faces,  but  to  make  them  happy.  This 
Joseph  desired  to  teach  the  people;  but  in  doing  so,  he, 
like  our  Savior,  when  he  was  on  the  earth,  was  a  stumbling- 
block  to  bigots  and  hypocrites.  They  could  not  understand 
him;  he  shocked  their  prejudices  and  traditions." — GEORGE 
Q.  CANNON. 


306      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

theological  seminary,  with  their  upward-rolling 
eyes  and  teary  voices,  their  ultra-specialized 
training  and  consequent  narrow  notions  of  re- 
ligion as  something  connected  with  chapel  ser- 
vices,— how  could  they  be  expected  to  estimate 
justly  a  religion  which  involves  the  sum  total  of 
man's  ideas  and  activities;  how  appreciate  the 
resultant  social  system,  which  is  a  more  vital  de- 
parture from  the  artificial  holiness  that,  like  the 
love-weed  in  our  alfalfa,  is  blighting  the  healthy 
naturalism  of  our  time, — than  was  the  departure 
of  science  from  the  cosmogony  of  the  Middle 
Ages? 

How,  with  the  bias  of  the  seminary  upon  them, 
can  they  feel  anything  like  Christian  charity  for 
a  religion  which  figures  neither  as  a  divine  gilding 
upon  life,  nor  as  a  divine  influx  into  life,  but  as  a 
transplanting  of  divine  life  itself  upon  this  planet ; 
a  religion  which  aims  to  sanctify  and  make  holy 
every  needful  activity  of  man;  a  religion  which 
counts  law  wherever  found,  whether  in  nature  or 
in  revelation,  as  equally  the  voice  of  the  living 
God? 

How,  with  their  prim  notions  of  ministerial 
broadcloth  and  immaculate  shirt-bosoms,  can 
they  keep  down  a  feeling  of  contempt  for  the 
Elder  that  plows  and  sows,  the  Seventy  that  shoes 
horses,  the  High  Priest  that  plasters  your  house, 
the  Apostle  that  superintends  a  factory  or  pre- 
sides over  a  bank, — for  a  body  of  ministers,  in 
short — comprising  almost  the  total  male  mem- 


What  Sectarianism  Offers        307 

bership  of  the  church — that  do,  during  week  days, 
whatever  the  exigencies  of  life  call  upon  them  to 
do,  and  preach,  if  need  be,  on  Sundays? 

Even  in  the  narrow  field  affected  by  these 
ministers,  that  of  spiritual  matters,  Mormonism 
presents  a  depth  and  richness  of  soil  which  would 
bring  a  harvest  to  their  starving  congregations, 
could  they  but  get  away  from  their  hackneyed 
texts  and  commentaries  long  enough  to  dig  into 
it.  As  it  is,  what  have  they  to  offer  in  lieu  of  the 
systems  they  would  crush  ?  With  what  principles 
do  they  purpose  to  "  reform,  educate,  and  civi- 
lize" us? 

It  is  conceivable  that  not  all  of  these  ministers 
have  joined  in  the  crushing  crusade,  but  that 
some  are  in  fact  still  intent  upon  our  conversion 
by  peaceable  means.  In  order  that  these  may  be 
fore-armed,  and  so  know  how  to  approach  us,  I 
purpose  confiding  to  them  some  prejudices  of  the 
thoughtful,  intelligent  Mormon,  who  is  acquainted 
with  the  deeper  principles  of  his  own  faith,  and 
also  with  what  may  be  gained  of  theirs  from  a 
study  of  their  confessions  of  faith.1 

1  I  am  fully  aware,  however,  that  such  creeds  are  not  a  just 
criterion  of  the  best  work  being  done  by  ministers  of  the 
Gospel.  Indeed,  where  men  are  really  helping  to  shape  the 
social  destiny  of  the  race,  the  chances  are  ten  to  one,  that  they 
have  overthrown  their  creeds  and  are  drawing  inspiration 
from  the  scientific  thought  of  the  age.  For  such  men  I  have 
the  greatest  reverence,  and  feel  sure  they  will  not  take  to 
themselves  what  I  have  said  against  the  narrow,  bigoted 
preachers  that  make  so  much  disturbance  about  reforming 
Latter-day  Saints. 


308       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Well,  then,  to  improvise  an  allegory,  his  own 
religion  presents  to  him  the  aspect  of  a  vigorous 
young  tree;  diversified  in  form  and  function,  yet 
still  bearing  the  stamp  of  a  perfect  unity ;  branch, 
and  twig,  and  leaf,  and  flower,  and  fruit,  each 
growing  organically  out  of  a  greater  something 
preceding;  the  whole  filled  and  made  alive  by  a 
mysterious  power  which  is  constantly  sending  its 
roots  more  deeply  into  the  spiritual  world,  only  to 
extend  its  beneficent  sway  more  widely  in  the 
natural  world. 

Theirs — the  religions  of  his  would-be  reformers 
— do  not  present  to  him  the  unity  of  even  an 
artificial  tree.  They  seem  rather  to  be  things 
wooden,  built  from  timber  cut  for  the  most  part 
during  the  dark  ages,  and  nailed  together— 
literally  nailed — by  the  decrees  of  ecclesiastical 
councils.  How  some  of  these  doctrines  have  hung 
to  the  rest  of  the  illogical  ensemble,  during  the 
enlightenment  of  the  nineteenth  century,  is  mat- 
ter for  wonder;  as,  for  instance,  the  doctrine  of 
the  creation  of  the  world  from  nothing,  of  the 
predestination  of  man  to  heaven  or  hell,  and  of 
the  damnation  of  unbaptized  infants.1 

I  have  said  that  such  are  the  relative  aspects 
of  his  own,  as  compared  with  other  religions,  to 
the  thoughtful,  philosophical  Mormon.  But  the 

1  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  same  Sectarian  Conven- 
tion which  resolved  to  open  the  crusade  on  the  Mormons  also 
pulled  out  from  their  creed  the  rusty  nail  represented  by  the 
last  named  doctrine. 


What  Sectarianism  Offers        3°9 

effect  is  precisely  the  same  with  the  Mormon  who 
never  reasons  back  to  final  causes ;  for  in  his  dumb 
way  he  still  feels,  by  a  kind  of  blanket  intuition, 
the  living  unity  and  essential  rationality  of  the 
one,  and  the  artificiality  and  ineffectiveness  of  the 
other. 

Having  pleaded  guilty  for  myself  and  my  co- 
religionists, to  which  definitely  biased  state  of 
mind,  I  dare  say,  I  have  done  the  worst  thing 
possible  for  our  future  peace  and  well-being;  for 
what  shall  now  restrain  the  rest  of  the  body  min- 
isterial from  giving  up  their  angelic  intentions 
toward  us,  and  deserting  to  the  contemplated 
crushing  campaign  previously  referred  to?  Have 
we  not  numerous  examples  of  the  facility  with 
which  sectaries  unite,  when  the  object  of  attack  is 
Mormonism  ? 

Seriously,  what  is  this  crushing  business  to 
signify?  Is  the  attack  to  be  Scriptural?  It 
dare  not  be — these  ministers  know  that  too  well. 
Educational?  Equally  impossible.  Political?  Per- 
haps. But  how  shallow  is  the  study  of  Mormon  - 
ism  which  concludes  that  it  can  be  swerved  from 
its  ideals  by  mere  political  circumvention !  When 
a  Mormon  gentleman  was  refused  his  seat  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  the  average  minister 
no  doubt  rubbed  his  hands  and  chuckled  at  the 
crushing  blow  that  had  been  dealt  to  Mormonism. 
What  a  piece  of  inane  fatuity!  It  affected  the 
health  of  the  "octopus"  no  more  than  would  the 
plucking  of  a  leaf  affect  a  tree.  The  real  injury  in 


310      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

such  a  case  would  be  to  the  liberty  and  integrity 
of  our  beloved  country. 

But  perhaps  these  holy  men  are  dreaming  of 
something  more  drastic;  to  which,  indeed,  po- 
litical hindrances  might  be  made  a  prelude.  Per- 
haps disfranchisement,  confiscation,  expulsion, 
mob-violence,  bayonets,  wholesale  massacres,— 
are  among  the  responses  they  get  to  their  pious 
prayers  in  our  behalf. 

Well,  if  crushing  is  in  the  womb  of  time  for  us, 
let  it  come.  We  are  ready  to  a  man  to  die,  if  need 
be,  for  our  convictions.  But  let  our  persecutors 
not  imagine  that  Mormonism  would  suffer.  In- 
dividually we  should  merely  transfer  our  efforts 
for  mankind  to  the  Church  of  the  First  Born  in 
the  spirit  world — for  this  life  is  not  the  only  sphere 
where  the  work  of  salvation  is  being  carried  on; 
and  the  very  ranks  of  our  enemies  might  be  trusted 
for  recruits  to  take  our  places  here. 

However,  before  they  start  this  new  crusade  for 
the  glory  of  God,  let  me  commend  to  them  the  ad- 
vice of  one  Gamaliel,  a  wise  man  in  his  day :  "  Re- 
frain from  these  men  and  let  them  alone:  for  if 
this  counsel,  or  this  work,  be  of  men,  it  will  come 
to  naught;  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot  over- 
throw it, — lest  haply  ye  be  found  even  to  fight 
against  God." 


CHAPTER  XXX 

CONCLUSION:  MORMONISM  DESTINED  TO  HAVE  THE 
LAST  WORD 

BUT  there  is  small  need  of  anticipating  so  dire 
an  outcome:  Mormonism  will  always  have 
the  last  word.  For  Mormonism  is  not  an  artificial 
system  of  religion — a  formulary  of  tenets  by  men 
who  assume  a  prerogative  which  even  God  him- 
self does  not  exercise :  that  of  pronouncing  for  all 
time  what  shall  be  right,  what  shall  be  wrong,  in 
divine  worship ;  cast-iron  creeds  which  set  out  by 
muzzling  Deity,  that  is,  by  denying  the  possibility 
of  new  revelation ;  creeds  which  cannot  be  modi- 
fied with  the  exigencies  of  progress,  and  must  con- 
sequently be  abandoned  in  practice,  though  still 
held  reverently  (like  a  family  skeleton)  in  theory. 
On  the  contrary,  Mormonism  is  a  living,  growing 
organism,  drawing  its  life  and  shaping  its  destiny 
from  truth  wherever  and  however  found;  a  sys- 
tem which  recognizes  God  as  alike  the  author  of 
nature  and  of  religion,  and  holds  law  in  equal 
reverence  as  the  will  of  God,  whether  manifested 
in  the  natural  or  in  the  spiritual  world. 

Owing  to  this  peculiar  point  of  view,  its  position 


312      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

becomes  impregnable.  Founded  as  it  is  in  the 
very  nature  and  constitution  of  the  universe,  it 
need  fear  no  onslaught  from  mechanical  systems 
of  religion.  Indeed,  so  far  from  being  crushed 
by  the  vain  sects  that  now  cry  for  its  destruction, 
it  is  destined  to  live  and  pronounce  the  requiescat 
on  the  last  sham  and  conventionality  of  mankind 
which  masquerades  under  the  sacred  forms  of 
Christianity. 

As  a  consequence,  the  attitude  of  Mormonism 
toward  these  same  man-made  sects,  while  full  of 
charity,  is  nevertheless  that  of  uncompromising 
non-affiliation. 

My  object  in  going  to  enquire  of  the  Lord,  [says 
Joseph  Smith  in  the  account  of  his  first  vision],  was  to 
know  which  of  all  the  sects  was  right,  that  I  might 
know  which  to  join.  No  sooner,  therefore,  did  I  get 
possession  of  myself,  so  as  to  be  able  to  speak,  than  I 
asked  the  Personages  who  stood  above  me  in  the  light, 
which  of  all  the  sects  was  right, — and  which  I  should 
join.  I  was  answered  that  I  must  join  none  of  them, 
for  they  were  all  wrong;  and  the  Personage  who  ad- 
dressed me  said  that  all  their  creeds  were  an  abomina- 
tion in  His  sight:  that  those  professors  were  all 
corrupt;  that  "they  draw  near  to  me  with  their  lips, 
but  their  hearts  are  far  from  me;  they  teach  for 
doctrines  the  commandments  of  men,  having  a  form 
of  godliness,  but  they  deny  the  thereof."  He  again 
forbade  me  to  join  with  any  of  them :  and  many  other 
things  did  he  say  unto  me,  which  I  cannot  write  at 
this  time. 


Conclusion  313 

This  uncompromising  point  of  view  is  generally 
held  up  by  our  opponents  as  evidence  of  the  nar- 
rowness and  bigotry  of  Mormonism.  "Just  as 
there  are  a  hundred  roads,  all  leading  into  Boston  " 
—so  runs  a  favorite  analogy  with  sectarian  min- 
isters— "so  there  may  be  a  thousand  right  ways 
into  heaven.  Once  there,  what  matter  by  which 
route  you  came?"  And  under  cover  of  this  very 
thin  analogy,  they  assume  to  settle  God's  infinite 
problem  for  Him,  once  for  all;  and  because  the 
Mormons  stand  aloof  from  such  reasoning,  they 
are  hated  for  ignorance  and  want  of  Christian 
charity. 

And  when  you  come  to  look  at  it,  how  very  ex- 
asperating is  this  attitude  of  non-affiliation !  Had 
it  not  been  for  such  aloofness  here  and  there  in 
the  world,  Christianity  might  long  ago  have  been 
united  in  one  universal  love-feast ! — the  very  con- 
dition enjoined  by  Christ  upon  his  disciples  as 
essential  to  salvation.  And  to  think  that  now— 
now,  right  in  the  blaze  of  the  twentieth  century ! 
—when  such  a  unity  in  Christ  is  growing  up  in 
every  land,  we  have  a  vinegar  sect  hid  away  in  the 
fastnesses  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  sending  out 
its  emissaries  to  sow  again  the  seeds  of  religious 
discord!  Is  it  not  damnable  thus  to  interfere 
with  the  salvation  of  the  human  race  ?  Why  can- 
not these  latter-day  bigots  join  with  us  in  a  uni- 
versal hallelujah  chorus  of  heaven  thrown  open 
to  all? 

Why,  indeed!     And  while  we  are  in  an  emo- 


3H      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

tional  mood,  let  us  stop  to  reflect  how  very  sad  it 
is  that  this  novel  method  of  scaling  the  battlements 
of  eternal  bliss  has  not  been  applied  to  all  the 
social  problems  of  the  race  from  the  beginning  of 
time.  For  instance,  think  what  treasures  might 
have  been  saved,  what  precious  lives  spared,  in 
the  late  Civil  War,  if  the  Union  soldiers,  instead 
of  marching  upon  their  brethren  with  sword  and 
cannon,  had  united  to  free  the  slaves  and  save  the 
Union,  in  the  beautiful,  holy,  metaphorical  way 
in  which  ministers  of  the  Gospel  propose  to  unite 
and  save  mankind!  And  no  doubt  they  could 
have  been  persuaded  to  fight  their  battles  in  that 
glorious,  ethereal  way,  had  slavery  seemed  as 
vague,  as  impalpable,  as  far-off  and  impossible 
an  evil  as  seems  the  sectarian  hell,  and  the  Union 
as  chimerical  and  evanescent  a  good  as  seems  the 
sectarian  heaven. 

But  Mormons,  with  their  very  practical  notions 
of  salvation  as  a  progressive  coming  into  harmony 
with  law,  and  of  heaven  as  a  progressive  social 
regeneration  of  this  world,  cannot  be  persuaded 
to  lay  down  the  weapons  of  common  sense,  how- 
ever narrow  and  bigoted  they  may  seem  in  con- 
sequence. They  are  fated,  therefore,  to  remain 
the  iconoclast  of  modern  religions,  shams,  and 
artificialities,  intrenched  though  such  shams  may 
be  behind  solemn  rite  and  sacred  ceremony;  the 
prophets  of  a  new  era  for  humanity — the  era  of 
life  looked  at  as  religion,  of  religion  looked  at  as 
life. 


Conclusion  3*5 

Consequently,  gentle  reader,  before  you  join  the 
ranks  of  those  who  misinterpret  the  non -affiliation 
of  Mormonism,  ponder  well  this  question :  Can  there 
be  more  than  one  true  religion  ?  If  this  question 
seems  difficult,  let  me  put  another :  Can  there  be 
more  than  one  true  science  of  chemistry  ?  of  botany  ? 
of  zoology  ?  of  astronomy  ?  of  geology  ?  Can  there  be 
more  than  one  true  history  of  natural  phenomena? 

Suppose  the  vague,  chimerical  systems  of  specu- 
lations, out  of  which  the  exact  sciences  have 
grown,  were  flourishing  now,  defended  by  the 
sophistry  of  long-haired  mountebanks;  and  that 
each  had  its  set  of  believers, — a  thing  by  no  means 
impossible, — what  attitude  would  the  real  scien- 
tists of  our  day  take  toward  them?  Well,  that  is 
precisely  the  attitude  Mormons  are  compelled  to 
take  toward  the  mediaeval  sects  of  religion  that 
still  linger  among  us. 

But  if  scientists  took  so  uncompromising  an 
attitude  toward  the  speculative  charlatans,  there 
would  be  social  disturbance  manifold.  Now,  sup- 
pose these  mountebanks,  feeling  innately  their 
impotence,  should  propose  an  armistice  on  the 
basis  of  some  glittering  generality,  could  scientists, 
in  the  interests  of  a  false  peace,  conscientiously 
consent  to  give  up  what  seemed  to  them  the  in- 
controvertible truths  of  nature?  No  more  can 
the  Mormons.  There  can  be  no  unity  (of  life), 
either  scientific  or  religious,  save  on  the  basis  of 
truth.  What  passes  for  unity  on  any  other  basis 
is  the  unity  of  death. 


316      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

If  you  concede,  then,  that  there  can  be  but  one 
true  religion,  can  you  consistently  remain  a  com- 
municant in  any  sect  that  does  not  claim  to  be 
that  one  religion?  To  be  true  to  yourself,  what 
must  be  your  attitude  toward  him  who  advocates 
a  scheme  of  salvation  merely  as  good  as  some 
other  scheme?  Does  not  this  very  admission 
prove  his  religion  to  be  a  mere  man-made  con- 
trivance for  attaining  eternal  life?  A  religion  is 
divinely  authorized  or  it  is  not, — there  is  no  half- 
way ground.  To  assume  that  any  religion  is  so 
authorized,  leaves  no  alternative  but  to  assume 
that  all  others  are  not.  If  the  assumption  is 
valid, — and  each  soul  must  determine  that  fact 
for  himself, — such  a  religion  is  the  greatest  boon 
that  can  come  to  man;  for  what  is  it  but  an  in- 
finite plan  for  conquering  the  universe,  with  God 
Himself  as  guide  ?  If  it  is  not  valid,  it  deserves  no 
man's  allegiance.  Better  the  untrammelled  con- 
tact of  the  soul  alone  and  naked  to  the  universe, 
— alert  to  truth  because  alone  and  because  naked, 
— than  the  fatuous  trust  which  blinds  the  senses 
through  following  one  who  assumes  to  see  but  sees 
not. 

Do  you  want  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  to  present 
a  religion  to  you  with  less  exacting  demands  on 
your  faith  than  Mormonism  makes?  No,  you 
answer;  any  iota  less  would  prove  it  merely 
human.  Why,  then,  condemn  the  Mormon 
Elder  as  narrow  and  bigoted  for  refusing  to  com- 
promise? Does  he  not  exhibit  in  his  preaching 


Conclusion  317 

the  only  virtue  that  can  begin  to  inspire  trust- 
that  of  speaking  with  authority?  Suppose  he 
should  take  the  apologetic  attitude.  What  then? 
He  is  either  a  coward  or  a  hypocrite ;  the  first,  if 
he  throws  down  the  truth  of  God  merely  to  placate 
men;  the  second,  if  he  still  assumes  to  be  divine 
that  which  may  be  so  thrown  down. 

While  an  uncompromising  attitude  in  religion 
is  not  in  itself  a  proof  of  divine  authority,  a  com- 
promising attitude — unless  authorized  by  God 
Himself — is  positive  proof  of  man-made  authority. 
When  the  time  comes  for  me  to  apologize  for 
Mormonism,  then  the  time  has  come  for  me  to 
drop  Mormonism,  if  I  would  remain  an  honest 
man.  For  Mormonism  is  no  mere  do-the-best- 
you-can  system  of  religion:  it  is  either  God's 
scheme  of  salvation  or  a  colossal  fraud. 

But  do  not  be  too  hasty  in  assuming  that  it  is 
the  latter.  The  true  church  must  begin  by  mak- 
ing precisely  the  claims  Mormonism  makes.  Any- 
thing short  of  that  leaves  it  human  by  its  own  ad- 
mission. Could  we  believe  in  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  if  He  had  compromised  with  the  religions 
upon  the  earth  in  His  day  ?  Listen  to  His  attitude 
in  relation  to  the  Sadducees  and  Pharisees:  "O 
generation  of  vipers,  who  hath  warned  you  to 
flee  from  the  wrath  which  is  to  come!"  "Woe 
unto  you  Scribes  and  Pharisees — hypocrites!" 
And  so  on.  When  did  He  ever  abate  one  jot  of 
His  divine  mission  to  curry  favor  with  these 
"whited  sepulchres"  of  sanctimoniousness? 


318       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

And  yet  these  were  eminently  holy  and  ortho- 
dox churches.  It  is  doubtful  whether  those  con- 
gregations of  the  present  day,  which  out  of  the 
plentitude  of  their  holiness  have  waged  war  upon 
Mormonism,  can  compare  with  their  ancient 
brethren  in  punctilious  sanctity.  In  contem- 
plating the  Mormons,  however,  they  have  the 
satisfaction  of  realizing  just  how  the  Pharisees 
felt  toward  Christ  and  His  innovations;  nor  can 
there  be  any  doubt  that  the  Mormons  on  their 
side  have  had  abundant  opportunity  of  realizing 
just  how  the  Pharisees  acted! 

The  message  of  Mormonism  to  the  world  is 
equally  unequivocal:  ''Come  out  of  her,  my 
people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  and 
that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues."  And  con- 
sistent with  the  declaration  of  the  Lord  to  Joseph 
Smith  in  his  first  vision,  this  message  is  to  all  men, 
Christian,  Jew,  and  Gentile,  without  reference 
to  their  affiliation  or  non-affiliation  with  other 
churches.  To  take  a  less  comprehensive  view  of 
the  mission  of  Mormonism  is  to  doubt  its  divinity ; 
and  such  a  doubt  immediately  leads  to  the  apos- 
tacy  of  the  doubter. 

In  a  former  paragraph  I  stated  that  Mormonism 
looks  with  charity  upon  all  churches ;  it  does  not 
hold  that  these  churches  are  not  good,  or  that  they 
do  not  teach  much  truth ;  it  holds  only  that  they 
are  not  divine, — since  there  can  be  but  one  divine 
Church. 

Nor  do  Mormons  hold  that  the  grace  of  God  is 


Conclusion  3X9 

withheld  from  men  not  in  the  Mormon  Church. 
Mohammedans  may,  by  the  grace  of  heaven,  have 
a  true  testimony  concerning  the  God  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob;  Christians,  in  addition  to  this, 
may,  by  the  gift  of  grace,  know  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ;  the  Mormon,  by  a  still  fuller  measure  of 
grace,  will  know  both  of  these  things,  and  in  ad- 
dition thereto  have  a  testimony  of  the  tremendous 
fact  that  God  has  again  spoken  from  the  heavens, 
—has  again  set  up  His  Church,  "  never  more  to 
be  thrown  down,  or  given  to  another  people." 

"It  is  written,"  says  Christ,  "that  man  must 
not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that 
proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God."  Here  pre- 
cisely is  where,  in  the  estimation  of  Mormons,  the 
Christian  world  are  at  fault;  salvation  is  no 
longer  by  the  dispensation  of  authority  given  to 
Peter  and  the  Apostles.  For  God  has  spoken 
again  and  ushered  in  a  new  dispensation — the 
dispensation  of  the  fullness  of  times. 

The  churches  of  the  day  are  without  divine 
authority:  it  was  not  in  the  purposes  of  the  Al- 
mighty that  the  Apostles  should  transmit  it. 
Whatever  of  good  is  in  these  man-made  religions, 
fits  men  by  so  much  for  the  new  dispensation  of 
God's  will.  The  more  of  good  men  acquire, — 
either  from  churches  or  any  other  social  factors, — 
the  more  nearly  will  they  approach  to  living  ac- 
cording to  the  requirements  of  this  new  dispensa- 
tion ;  but  when  the  time  comes — be  it  in  this  life 
or  the  next — that  they  are  ready  to  make  those 


320      The  Science  of  Morrnonism 

covenants  with  God  which  place  them  forever 
among  the  workers — and  without  which  psychic 
evolution  becomes  ultimately  impossible, — they 
will  have  to  make  them  through  the  medium  of 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ ; — of  which  the  Church 
of  the  Latter-day  Saints  is  now  the  representative 
on  this  side  of  the  veil. 

Such,  then,  is  the  nature  of  the  "last  word" 
which  Mormonism  has  over  all  other  churches. 


[A  dvertisement] 
SOCIAL  ASPECTS  OF  MORMONISM 

AT  first  it  was  the  intention  of  the  author  to 
combine  in  one  volume  an  exposition  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  Mormonism  and  an 
account  of  the  social  system  resulting  from  them. 
But  ere  long  it  became  evident  that  to  carry  out 
this  purpose  would  necessitate  such  a  compression 
of  both  aspects  as  would  be  very  detrimental  to 
the  subject. 

It  was  therefore  thought  better  to  make  two 
volumes,  to  be  named,  respectively,  Scientific 
Aspects  of  Mormonism  and  Social  Aspects  of 
Mormonism;  which,  as  will  be  seen,  are  related  to 
each  other  as  cause  and  effect.  The  latter,  which 
I  hope  also  to  treat  from  the  point  of  view  of 
science  and  philosophy,  ought  to  be  of  supreme 
interest  to  the  student  of  sociology;  for  in  Mor- 
monism, as  perhaps  nowhere  else  in  the  world,  is 
presented  the  aspect  of  a  people  shaping  them- 
selves along  social  lines  through  the  momentum 
of  a  virile  religious  faith. 

In  the  latter  volume  I  hope  to  treat,  somewhat 
at  length,  that  social  detail  of  past  Mormonism 

21 

321 


322      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

which  has  received  such  tremendous  emphasis  in 
the  speculations  of  mankind,  and  which  the  world 
will  apparently  not  permit  to  subside  into  quies- 
cence. I  refer  to  plural  marriage,  which  has 
really  not  had  as  yet  a  hearing  on  its  own  account. 
Such  a  reopening  of  the  subject  will  not,  however, 
be  with  any  view  to  the  recrudescence  of  the  prac- 
tice, but  merely  with  a  view  to  lifting  the  obloquy 
which  now  rests  on  the  entire  social  system  through 
a  misunderstanding  of  this  relatively  insignificant 
feature. 


APPENDIX  A 

SCRIPTURAL    PROOFS    OF    PRE-EXISTENCE 

THE  doctrine  of  pre-existence,  in  the  form  in- 
vented by  Buddha,  has  been  held  for  thousands 
of  years.  Plato  and  Pythagoras  taught  it  among  the 
Greeks,  it  was  a  tenet  of  the  esoteric  religion  of  Egypt, 
and  it  is  inculcated  to-day  by  Theosophy.  As  pre- 
sented by  all  these  schools,  the  Hindoo  notion  remains 
essentially  the  same:  man  has  a  pre-existence  by 
virtue  of  re-incarnation,  again  and  again,  in  mortal 
or  earth  life. 

The  doctrine  as  held  by  the  Latter-day  Saints, 
while  abundantly  foreshadowed  in  holy  writ,  is  new, 
so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  discover,  among  the 
beliefs  of  mankind.  The  poet  Wordsworth,  in  a 
moment  of  poetic  inspiration,  had  this  first  estate  of 
the  soul  revealed  to  him,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing noble  stanza  from  his  Intimations  of  Immortality. 

Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting: 
The  soul  that  rises  with  us — our  life's  star — 

Hath  had  elsewhere  its  setting, 

And  cometh  from  afar, 

Not  in  entire  forge tfulness, 

And  not  in  utter  nakedness, 
But  trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come 

From  God,  who  is  our  home. 
Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy ; 

323 


324       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Shades  of  the  prison-house  begin  to  close 

Upon  the  growing  boy; 
But  he  beholds  the  light,  and  whence  it  flows, 

He  sees  it  in  his  joy; 
The  youth  who  daily  farther  from  the  east 

Must  travel  still  is  nature's  priest. 

And  by  the  vision  splendid 

Is  on  his  way  attended ; 
At  length  the  man  perceives  it  die  away, 
And  fade  into  the  light  of  common  day. 

What  a  pity  that  the  poet  should  not  trust  the 
truthness  thus  directly  shining  from  God  into  his 
soul,  rather  than  defer  to  the  theological  opinions  of 
his  time.  See  how  he  discredits  his  own  inspiration: 

To  that  dream-like  vividness  and  splendor  which  invest 
objects  of  sight  in  childhood,  every  one,  I  believe,  if  he  would 
look  back,  could  bear  testimony,  and  I  need  not  dwell  upon 
it  here ;  but  having  in  the  poem  regarded  it  as  a  presumptive 
evidence  of  a  prior  state  of  existence,  I  think  it  right  to  pro- 
test against  a  conclusion  which  has  given  pain  to  some  good 
and  pious  persons,  that  I  meant  to  inculcate  such  a  belief. 
It  is  far  too  shadowy  a  notion  to  be  recommended  to  faith 
as  more  than  an  element  in  our  instincts  of  immortality. 
But  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  though  the  idea  is  not  advanced 
in  Revelation,  there  is  nothing  there  to  contradict  it,  and  the 
fall  of  man  presents  an  analogy  in  its  favor. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  examine  whether  the  idea  is 
or  is  not  advanced  in  Revelation. 

It  will  not  be  questioned  that  Jesus  Christ  had  a 
pre-existence.  The  passages  which  prove  this  are 
so  numerous,  that  every  Bible  reader  must  be  familiar 
with  them.  He  could  not  have  been  a  "Lamb  slain 
from  the  foundations  of  the  earth,"  without  having 
had  a  definite  psychic  existence,  so  as  to  accept  such 
a  divine  mission.  Indeed,  He  says  Himself  in  so  many 


Pre-Existence  325 

words:  "I  came  forth  from  the  Father  and  am  come 
into  the  world;  again  I  leave  the  world,  and  go  to  the 
Father."  Then,  too,  Christ's  prayer:  "  Glorify  thou 
me  with  the  glory  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world 
was,"  definitely  fixes  his  pre-mortal  status.  (See  John 
xvi.,  28;  also  xvii.,  5). 

But  Christ  is  called  the  "first-born  among  many 
brethren"  (Rom.  viii.,  29)  also  the  "first-born  of  all 
creatures."  Manifestly  a  first-born  implies  a  second- 
born;  and  if  a  second-born,  then  a  millionth-born. 
Whence  we  draw  the  conclusion  that  Christ  is  our 
elder  Brother;  a  conclusion  further  strengthened  by 
Paul's  remark:  "  For  both  he  that  sanctifieth  [Christ], 
and  they  who  are  sanctified  [mankind]  are  all  of  one  : 
for  which  cause  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them 
brethren." 

This  relationship  between  the  Saviour  and  the  saved 
is  made  clearer  by  other  passages.  For  instance, 
Paul  says:  "Furthermore,  we  have  had  fathers  in  the 
flesh  which  corrected  us  and  we  gave  them  reverence ; 
shall  we  not  much  rather  be  subject  to  the  Father  of 
spirits,  and  live?  "  (Heb.  xii.,  9)  And  Christ  taught 
all  men  to  pray,  "Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven" ; 
and  lest  there  should  be  any  doubt  as  to  the  significance 
of  "our,"  He  says  on  another  occasion:  "Say  unto 
my  brethren,  I  ascend  to  my  Father  and  your  Father; 
and  to  my  God,  and  to  your  God."  (John  xx.,  17) 
Other  passages  might  be  quoted  to  sustain  the  equal 
fatherhood  of  God,  and  the  equal  brotherhood  of  man 
with  Jesus  Christ.  If,  therefore,  Christ  had  a  pre-ex- 
istence,  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  His  brethren  and 
sisters  also  had  one. 

This  latter  fact  becomes  more  than  a  presumption 


326      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

when  we  consider  passages  like  this :  "Then  the  word  of 
the  Lord  came  unto  me  saying :  '  Before  I  formed  thee 
in  the  belly,  I  knew  thee ;  and  before  thou  earnest  out 
of  the  womb,  I  sanctified  thee  and  ordained  thee  a 
prophet  unto  the  nations' "  (Jer.  i. ,  4,  5 .)  Is  it  possible 
that  such  a  commission  could  be  made  and  the  recipi- 
ent not  be  in  existence  ?  John  the  Baptist  was  like- 
wise chosen  before  his  body  was  conceived  upon  the 
earth.  So  also  was  Ishmael;  and  so  well  was  his 
character  as  a  spirit  known,  and  the  character  of  the 
spirits  allotted  to  his  lineage,  that  the  angel  said: 
"His  hand  shall  be  against  every  man's  hand  and 
every  man's  hand  against  him"  (Gen.  xvi.,  i) — a 
characteristic  to  which  his  race  are  true  to  this  day. 

Nor  is  Jesus  Christ  the  only  being  called  Son  of  God. 
Adam  is  equally  so  named.  (Luke  iii.,  38).  John  says 
moreover:  "Beloved,  now  we  are  sons  of  God,  and 
it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be :  but  we  know 
that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him;  for 
we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  (I  John  iii.,  2);  thus 
emphasizing  the  essential  kinship  of  Christ  and 
mankind. 

Consider  next  this  remarkable  passage:  "Then  the 
Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind  and  said; 
*  Who  is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel  by  words  without 
knowledge?  Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man,  for  I 
will  demand  of  thee  and  answer  thou  me :  Where  wast 
thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth?  De- 
clare if  thou  hast  understanding. ' ' 

Job  was  evidently  in  existence  at  this  time — a  time 
when  the  earth  was  still  in  chaos, — just  as  we  have 
seen  was  the  case  with  Jeremiah,  John  the  Baptist, 
Ishmael,  and  Jesus  Christ.  That  the  rest  of  man- 


Pre-Existence  327 

kind  were  also  in  that  primeval  state  is  made  plain  by 
one  of  the  next  questions  put  by  the  Lord:  "Or  who 
laid  the  corner-stone  thereof,  when  the  morning  stars 
sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  ?  " 
(Job  xxxviii.,  i-y)1 

Who  could  the  sons  of  God  have  been  other  than 
the  spirits  begotten  by  our  Father  in  heaven  dur- 
ing pre-existence  ? — the  very  beings  called  sons  of 
God  afterward  in  their  earthly  estate.  By  no  pos- 
sibility of  interpretation  can  the  passage  be  made  to 
apply  to  mortal  beings ;  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
million  (or  billion)  year  epoch  represented  by  the 
creation  of  the  earth  was  just  beginning.  The  figur- 
ative expression,  "morning  stars,"  would  imply  ad- 
vanced spirits — spirits  brighter  or  more  intelligent  by 
reason  of  longer  existence  in  the  organized  spirit- 
ual estate.  The  fact  that  Lucifer  was  called  a  "son 
of  the  morning,"  gives  additional  color  to  this  in- 
terpretation. 

1  By  way  of  aiding  the  imagination  to  visualize  this  marvel- 
lous spirit-convention,  with  God  the  Father,  and  a  host  of 
angels  and  "just  men  made  perfect"  in  their  midst  directing 
and  controlling,  it  will  be  well  to  remember  that  a  spirit  is 
figured  in  Scripture  to  be  the  exact  counterpart  of  the 
natural  body,  but  impalpable.  Nebuchadnezzar  in  looking 
into  the  fiery  furnace,  whither  Shadrach,  Meshech,  and  Abed- 
nego  had  been  cast,  exclaimed:  "Lo  I  see  four  men  loose, 
walking  in  the  midst  of  the  fire,  and  they  have  no  hurt ;  and 
the  form  of  the  fourth  [evidently  a  spirit]  is  like  the  Son  of 
God."  (Dan.  iii.,  25.)  So  also  when  Christ  appeared  after 
His  resurrection,  the  apostles  were  "affrighted  and  thought 
they  had  seen  a  spirit";  but  Jesus  reassured  them  by  saying, 
"  Handle  me  and  see;  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones 
as  ye  see  me  have," — proving  therefore  both  points  main- 
tained above:  the  human  form  and  the  impalpability  of  a 
spirit. 


328      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

Note  the  fact  that  these  spiritual  beings  "shouted 
for  joy."  That  implies  not  only  a  high  degree  of  in- 
telligence, but  an  immediate  occasion  for  jubilation. 
The  first  fact  we  should  naturally  expect  from  long 
ages  of  psychic  evolution  previous  to  this  event ;  the 
latter,  or  the  occasion  for  jubilation,  we  assume  to  be 
the  event  itself;  namely,  the  creation  of  a  habitat  for 
the  second  or  mortal  estate  of  these  same  spirits. 
What  event,  indeed,  would  be  more  likely  to  inspire 
shouts  of  joy  than  a  new  world  in  which  psychic 
evolution  might  go  on?  For  these  spirits  under- 
stood, perhaps  more  clearly  there  than  they  do  here 
the  absolute  need  of  a  second  or  mortal  estate 
in  order  to  attain  the  perfection  of  their  Father  in 
heaven. 

But  out  of  this  glorious  inauguration  of  a  new 
world  grew  discord  as  well  as  joy — if  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  bridge  by  modern  revelation  two  important 
events  mentioned  in  Scripture.  In  fact,  it  was  pre- 
cisely here  that  the  war  in  heaven  had  its  origin. 
For  when  the  question  of  how  mankind  should  be 
saved  from  the  abyss  into  which  it  was  necessary  to 
plunge  them,  "Lucifer,  a  son  of  the  morning,"  pro- 
posed to  do  it  by  taking  away  man's  free  agency  and 
making  him  do  right,  as  the  birds  fly  southward  in 
winter;  this  plan  not  being  accepted,  he  declared  war 
against  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  leading  one-third  of  the 
spirits  of  heaven  with  him.  How  they  were  cast  out 
of  heaven  and  became  the  Devil  and  his  angels  of 
darkness  is  told  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Revela- 
tions. Jude  also  alludes  to  this  same  event  in  these 
words:  "And  the  angels  which  kept  not  their  first 
estate,  but  left  their  own  habitation,  he  hath  reserved 


Pre-Existence  329 

in  everlasting  chains,  under  darkness,  unto  the  judg- 
ment of  the  great  day." 

That  the  beings  called  angels  in  these  two  passages 
are  in  fact  spirits,  is  manifest  from  many  passages  in 
which  they  are  called  evil  spirits,  unclean  spirits, 
devils,  and  so  on ;  as  also  from  the  fact  that  they  could 
possess  mortal  bodies.  The  word  angel  in  its  generic 
sense,  stands  for  any  supernatural  being,  whether 
spirit  or  resurrected  personality,  who  fulfils  a  com- 
mission of  the  Almighty.  That  angels  may  be  spirits 
is  expressly  pointed  out  by  Paul  in  the  question: 
"Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to 
minister  for  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation?" 
(Heb.  i.,  14).  By  parity  of  reasoning,  apostate  spirits, 
— spirits  who  have  ceased  to  minister  in  the  service  of 
God  and  have  become  enemies  of  that  service,  would 
naturally  be  called  fallen  angels,  as  we  have  seen  they 
are. 

The  doctrine  of  pre-existence  has  now,  I  trust,  been 
fully  established  by  Scripture.  Space  will  not  per- 
mit me  to  enter  more  deeply  into  the  social  life  of  that 
first  estate.  But  the  mere  fact  of  a  pre-mortal  life  it- 
self throws  a  wonderful  light  upon  the  present  life  of 
the  spirit,  and  also  upon  the  life  which  is  to  come. 


APPENDIX  B 

CONTRADICTIONS    RESULTING    FROM    THE    ATTEMPT 
TO    CHRISTIANIZE   THE    GOD    OF    BUDDHA 

IF  from  the  origin  of  the  Universe  [says  Herbert 
Spencer  I  ]  we  turn  to  its  nature,  the  like  insur- 
mountable difficulties  rise  up  before  us  on  all  sides — or 
rather,  the  same  difficulties  under  new  aspects.  We 
find  ourselves  on  the  one  hand  obliged  to  make  certain 
assumptions ;  and  yet  on  the  other  hand  we  find  these 
assumptions  cannot  be  represented  in  thought. 

When  we  inquire  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  various 
effects  produced  upon  our  senses — when  we  ask  how 
there  come  to  be  in  our  consciousness  impressions  of 
sounds,  of  colors,  of  tastes,  and  of  those  various  attri- 
butes which  we  ascribe  to  bodies,  we  are  compelled  to 
regard  them  as  the  effects  of  some  cause.  We  may 
stop  short  in  the  belief  that  this  cause  is  what  we  call 
matter.  Or  we  may  conclude,  as  some  do,  that  mat- 
ter is  only  a  certain  mode  of  manifestation  of  spirit, 
which  is  therefore  the  true  cause.  Or,  regarding  mat- 
ter and  spirit  as  proximate  agencies,  we  may  attri- 
bute all  the  changes  wrought  in  our  consciousness  to 
immediate  divine  power.  But  be  the  cause  we  assign 
what  it  may,  we  are  obliged  to  suppose  some  cause. 
And  we  are  not  only  obliged  to  suppose  some  cause, 
1  First  Principles,  pp.  36-43. 
330 


Contradictions  33 l 

but  also  a  first  cause.  The  matter,  or  spirit,  or  what- 
ever we  assume  to  be  the  agent  producing  on  us  these 
various  impressions,  must  either  be  the  first  cause  of 
them  or  not.  If  it  is  the  first  cause,  the  conclusion  is 
reached.  If  it  is  not  the  first  cause,  then  by  implica- 
tion there  must  be  a  cause  behind  it;  which  thus 
becomes  the  real  cause  of  the  effect.  Manifestly,  how- 
ever complicated  the  assumptions,  the  same  con- 
clusion must  inevitably  be  reached.  We  cannot 
think  at  all  about  the  impressions  which  the  external 
world  produces  on  us,  without  thinking  of  them  as 
caused;  and  we  cannot  carry  out  an  inquiry  con- 
cerning their  causation,  without  inevitably  commit- 
ting ourselves  to  the  hypothesis  of  a  First  Cause. 

But  now  if  we  go  a  step  further,  and  ask  what  is  the 
nature  of  this  First  Cause,  we  are  driven  by  an  inex- 
orable logic  to  certain  conclusions.  Is  the  First  Cause 
finite  or  infinite?  If  we  say  finite  we  involve  our- 
selves in  a  dilemma.  To  think  of  the  First  Cause  as 
finite,  is  to  think  of  it  as  limited.  To  think  of  it  as 
limited,  as  necessarily  implies  a  conception  of  some- 
thing beyond  its  limits :  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
conceive  a  thing  as  bounded  without  conceiving  a 
region  surrounding  its  boundaries.  What  now  must 
we  say  of  this  region?  If  the  First  Cause  is  limited, 
and  there  consequently  lies  something  outside  of  it, 
this  something  must  have  no  First  Cause — must  be 
uncaused.  But  if  we  admit  that  there  can  be  some- 
thing uncaused,  there  is  no  reason  to  assume  a  cause 
for  anything.1  If  beyond  that  finite  region  over 

1  This  ground  does  not  seem  to  me  well-taken.  The  mo- 
ment we  apply  it  to  the  analogues  of  Causation,  viz.,  to  Time 
and  Space,  it  reduces  itself  to  an  absurdity.  Thus,  "If  we 


332       The  Science  of  Mormonism 

which  the  First  Cause  extends,  there  lies  a  region, 
which  we  are  compelled  to  regard  as  finite,  over  which 
it  does  not  extend — if  we  admit  that  there  is  an  infinite 
uncaused  surrounding  the  finite  caused;  we  tacitly 
abandon  the  hypothesis  of  causation  altogether. 
Thus  it  is  impossible  to  consider  the  First  Cause  as 
finite.  And  if  it  cannot  be  finite  it  must  be  infinite. 

Another  inference  concerning  the  First  Cause  is 
equally  unavoidable.  IT  must  be  independent.  If  it 
is  dependent  it  cannot  be  the  First  Cause;  for  that 
must  be  the  First  Cause  on  which  it  depends.  It  is 
not  enough  to  say  that  it  is  partially  independent; 
since  this  implies  some  necessity  which  determines 
its  partial  dependence,  and  this  necessity,  be  it  what 
it  may,  must  be  a  higher  cause,  or  the  true  First 
Cause,  which  is  a  contradiction.  But  to  think  of  the 
First  Cause  as  totally  independent,  is  to  think  of  it  as 
that  which  exists  in  the  absence  of  all  other  existence ; 
seeing  that  if  the  presence  of  any  other  existence  is 
necessary,  it  must  be  partially  dependent  on  that 
other  existence,  and  so  cannot  be  the  First  Cause. 
Not  only  however  must  the  First  Cause  be  a  form  of 
being  which  has  no  necessary  relation  to  any  other 

admit  that  there  can  be  space  beyond  a  hypothetical  begin- 
ning of  space,  there  is  no  reason  to  assume  space  for  any- 
thing";  and  so  of  time.  The  fact  is,  all  finite  ideas  of  creation 
involve  both  time  and  space,  and  we  are  compelled  to  use 
them,  even  though  we  know  that  in  an  absolute  sense  these 
concepts  are  infinite,  and  as  such  incomprehensible  to  man. 
When  philosophers  shall  rest  causation  on  precisely  similar 
grounds,  we  shall  have  an  end  of  those  barren  problems 
which  one  moment  assume  the  character  "It  is,"  and  the 
next,  "  It  is  not."  Man's  mind  no  more  demands  a  first  cause 
than  a  beginning  to  space  and  time. 


Contradictions  333 

form  of  being,  but  it  can  have  no  necessary  relation 
within  itself.  There  can  be  nothing  in  it  which 
determines  change,  and  yet  nothing  which  prevents 
change.  For  if  it  contains  something  which  imposes 
such  necessities  or  restraints,  this  something  must  be 
a  cause  higher  than  the  First  Cause,  which  is  absurd. 
Thus  the  First  Cause  must  be  in  every  sense  perfect, 
complete,  total:  including  within  itself  all  power, 
and  transcending  all  law.  Or  to  use  the  established 
word,  it  must  be  absolute. 

Here  then  respecting  the  nature  of  the  Universe,  we 
seem  committed  to  certain  unavoidable  conclusions. 
The  objects  and  actions  surrounding  us,  not  less  than 
the  phenomena  of  our  consciousness,  compel  us  to  ask 
a  cause;  in  our  search  for  a  cause,  we  discover  no 
resting  place  until  we  arrive  at  the  hypothesis  of  a 
First  Cause ;  and  we  have  no  alternative  but  to  regard 
this  First  Cause  as  Infinite  and  Absolute.  These  are 
inferences  forced  upon  us  by  arguments  from  which 
there  appears  no  escape.  It  is  hardly  needful  how- 
ever to  show  those  who  have  followed  thus  far,  how 
illusive  are  these  reasonings  and  their  results.  But 
that  it  would  tax  the  reader's  patience  to  no  purpose, 
it  might  easily  be  proved  that  the  materials  of  which 
the  argument  is  built,  equally  with  the  conclusions 
based  on  them,  are  merely  symbolic  conceptions  of 
the  illegitimate  order.  Instead,  however,  of  repeating 
the  disproof  used  above,  it  will  be  desirable  to  pursue 
another  method;  showing  the  fallacy  of  these  con- 
clusions by  disclosing  their  mutual  contradictions. 

Here  I  cannot  do  better  than  to  avail  myself  of  the 
demonstration  which  Mr.  Mansel,  carrying  out  in 
detail  the  doctrine  of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  has 


334      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

given  in  his  Limits  of  Religious  Thought.  And  I 
gladly  do  this,  not  only  because  his  mode  of  presenta- 
tion cannot  be  improved,  but  also  because,  writing  as 
he  does  in  defence  of  the  current  Theology,  his  reason- 
ings will  be  the  more  acceptable  to  the  majority  of 
readers. 

Having  given  preliminary  definitions  of  the  First 
Cause,  of  the  Infinite,  and  of  the  Absolute,  Mr.  Man- 
sel  says: — 

But  these  three  conceptions,  the  Cause,  the  Absolute,  the 
Infinite,  all  equally  indispensable,  do  they  not  imply  con- 
tradiction to  each  other,  when  viewed  in  conjunction,  as 
attributes  of  one  and  the  same  Being?  A  Cause  cannot,  as 
such,  be  absolute:  the  Absolute  cannot,  as  such,  be  a  cause. 
The  cause,  as  such,  exists  only  in  relation  to  its  effect:  the 
cause  is  a  cause  of  the  effect ;  the  effect  is  an  effect  of  the 
cause.  On  the  other  hand,  the  conception  of  the  Absolute 
implies  a  possible  existence  out  of  all  relation.  We  attempt 
to  escape  from  this  apparent  contradiction,  by  introducing 
the  idea  of  succession  in  time.  The  Absolute  exists  first  by 
itself,  and  afterwards  becomes  a  Cause.  But  here  we  are 
checked  by  the  third  conception,  that  of  the  Infinite.  How 
can  the  Infinite  become  that  which  it  was  not  at  first?  If 
Causation  is  a  possible  mode  of  existence,  that  which  exists 
without  causing  is  not  infinite;  that  which  becomes  a  cause 
has  passed  beyond  its  former  limits. 

Supposing  the  Absolute  to  become  a  cause,  it  will  follow 
that  it  operates  by  means  of  freewill  and  consciousness. 
For  a  necessary  cause  cannot  be  conceived  as  absolute  and 
infinite.  If  necessitated  by  something  beyond  itself,  it  is 
therefore  limited  by  a  superior  power;  and  if  necessitated 
by  itself,  it  has  in  its  own  nature  a  necessary  relation  to  its 
effect.  The  act  of  causation  must  therefore  be  voluntary; 
and  volition  is  only  possible  in  a  conscious  being.  But 
consciousness  again  is  only  conceivable  as  a  relation.  There 
must  be  a  conscious  subject,  and  an  object  of  which  he  is 
conscious.  The  subject  is  a  subject  to  the  object ;  the  object 


Contradictions  335 

is  an  object  to  the  subject;  and  neither  can  exist  by  itself 
as  the  absolute.  This  difficulty,  again,  may  be  for  the  mo- 
ment evaded,  by  distinguishing  between  the  absolute  as 
related  to  another  and  the  absolute  as  related  to  itself.  The 
Absolute  it  may  be  said,  may  possibly  be  conscious,  pro- 
vided it  is  only  conscious  of  itself.  But  this  alternative  is, 
in  ultimate  analysis,  no  less  self-destructive  than  the  other. 
For  the  object  of  consciousness,  whether  a  mode  of  the  sub- 
ject's existence  or  not,  is  either  created  in  and  by  the  act 
of  consciousness,  or  has  an  existence  independent  of  it. 
In  the  former  case,  the  object  depends  upon  the  subject,  and 
the  subject  alone  is  the  true  absolute.  In  the  latter  case, 
the  subject  depends  upon  the  object,  and  the  object  alone 
is  the  true  absolute.  Or  if  we  attempt  a  third  hypothesis, 
and  maintain  that  each  exists  independently  of  the  other, 
we  have  no  absolute  at  all,  but  only  a  pair  of  relatives;  for 
coexistence,  whether  in  consciousness  or  not,  is  itself  a 
relation. 

The  corollary  from  this  reasoning  is  obvious.  Not  only 
is  the  Absolute,  as  conceived,  incapable  of  a  necessary  relation 
to  anything  else;  but  it  is  also  incapable  of  containing,  by 
the  constitution  of  its  own  nature,  an  essentia*  relation 
within  itself;  as  a  whole,  for  instance,  composed  of  parts,  or 
as  a  substance  consisting  of  attributes,  or  as  a  conscious 
subject  in  antithesis  to  an  object.  For  if  there  is  in  the 
absolute  any  principle  of  unity,  distinct  from  the  mere  accu- 
mulation of  parts  or  attributes,  this  principle  alone  is  the  true 
absolute.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  such  principle, 
then  there  is  no  absolute  at  all,  but  only  a  plurality  of  rela- 
tives. The  almost  unanimous  voice  of  philosophy,  in  pro- 
nouncing that  the  absolute  is  both  one  and  simple,  must  be 
accepted  as  the  voice  of  reason  also,  so  far  as  reason  has  any 
voice  in  the  matter.  But  this  absolute  unity,  as  indifferent 
and  containing  no  attributes,  can  neither  be  distinguished 
from  the  multiplicity  of  finite  beings  by  any  characteristic 
feature,  nor  be  identified  with  them  in  their  multiplicity. 
Thus  we  are  landed  in  an  inextricable  dilemma.  The 
Absolute  cannot  be  conceived  as  conscious,  neither  can  it 
be  conceived  as  unconscious:  it  cannot  be  conceived  as 
complex,  neither  can  it  be  conceived  as  simple;  it  cannot  be 


336      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

conceived  by  difference,  neither  can  it  be  conceived  by  the 
absence  of  difference:  it  cannot  be  identified  with  the  uni- 
verse, neither  can  it  be  distinguished  from  it.  The  One  and 
the  Many,  regarded  as  the  beginning  of  existence,  are  thus 
alike  incomprehensible. 

The  fundamental  conception  of  Rational  Theology  being 
thus  self-destructive,  we  may  naturally  expect  to  find  the 
same  antagonism  manifested  in  their  special  applications. 
.  .  .  How,  for  example,  can  Infinite  Power  be  able  to  do 
all  things,  and  yet  Infinite  Goodness  be  unable  to  do  evil? 
How  can  Infinite  Justice  exact  the  utmost  penalty  for  every 
sin,  and  yet  Infinite  Mercy  pardon  the  sinner?  How  can 
Infinite  Wisdom  know  all  that  is  to  come,  and  yet  Infinite 
Freedom  be  at  liberty  to  do  or  to  forbear?  How  is  the 
existence  of  Evil  compatible  with  that  of  an  infinitely  perfect 
Being;  for  if  he  wills  it,  he  is  not  infinitely  good;  and  if  he 
wills  it  not,  his  will  is  thwarted  and  his  sphere  of  action 
limited. 

Let  us,  however,  suppose  for  an  instant  that  these  diffi- 
culties are  surmounted,  and  the  existence  of  the  Absolute 
securely  established  on  the  testimony  of  reason.  Still  we 
have  not  succeeded  in  reconciling  this  idea  with  that  of  a 
Cause:  we  have  done  nothing  towards  explaining  how  the 
absolute  can  give  rise  to  the  relative,  the  infinite  to  the 
finite.  If  the  condition  of  casual  activity  is  a  higher  state 
than  that  of  quiescence,  the  Absolute  whether  acting  volun- 
tarily or  involuntarily,  has  passed  from  a  condition  of  com- 
parative imperfection  to  one  of  comparative  perfection ;  and 
therefore  was  not  originally  perfect.  If  the  state  of  activity 
is  an  inferior  state  to  that  of  quiescence,  the  Absolute,  in 
becoming  a  cause,  has  lost  its  original  perfection.  There 
remains  only  the  supposition  that  the  two  states  are  equal, 
and  the  act  of  creation  one  of  complete  indifference.  But 
this  supposition  annihilates  the  unity  of  the  absolute,  or  it 
annihilates  itself.  If  the  act  of  creation  is  real,  and  yet 
indifferent,  we  must  admit  the  possibility  of  two  conceptions 
of  the  absolute,  the  one  as  productive,  the  other  as  non- 
productive. If  the  act  is  not  real,  the  supposition  itself 
vanishes. 

Again,  how  can  the  relative  be  conceived  as  coming  into 


Contradictions  337 

being?  If  it  is  a  distinct  reality  from  the  absolute,  it  must 
be  conceived  as  passing  from  non-existence  into  existence. 
But  to  conceive  an  object  as  non-existent,  is  again  a  self- 
contradiction  ;  for  that  which  is  conceived  exists,  as  an  object 
of  thought,  in  and  by  that  conception.  We  may  abstain 
from  thinking  of  an  object  at  all;  but,  if  we  think  of  it,  we 
cannot  but  think  of  it  as  existing.  It  is  possible  at  one  time 
not  to  think  of  an  object  at  all,  and  at  another  to  think  of 
it  as  already  in  being;  but  to  think  of  it  in  the  act  of  becom- 
ing, in  the  progress  from  not  being  into  being,  is  to  think  that 
which,  in  the  very  thought,  annihilates  itself. 

To  sum  up  briefly  this  portion  of  my  argument.  The  con- 
ception of  the  Absolute  and  Infinite,  from  whatever  side  we 
view  it,  appears  encompassed  with  contradictions.  There  is 
a  contradiction  in  supposing  such  an  object  to  exist,  whether 
alone  or  in  conjunction  with  others;  and  there  is  a  contra- 
diction in  supposing  it  not  to  exist.  There  is  a  contradiction 
in  conceiving  it  as  one ;  and  there  is  a  contradiction  in  con- 
ceiving it  as  many.  There  is  a  contradiction  in  conceiving 
it  as  personal;  and  there  is  a  contradiction  in  conceiving  it 
as  impersonal.  It  cannot,  without  contradiction  be  repre- 
sented as  active:  nor,  without  equal  contradiction,  be 
represented  as  inactive.  It  cannot  be  conceived  as  the  sum 
of  all  existence;  nor  can  it  be  conceived  as  a  part  only  of 
that  sum. 


Some  do  indeed  allege  [says  Mr.  Spencer]  that 
though  the  Ultimate  Cause  of  things  cannot  really  be 
thought  of  by  us  as  having  specified  attributes,  it  is 
yet  incumbent  upon  us  to  assert  these  attributes. 
Though  the  forms  of  our  consciousness  are  such  that 
the  Absolute  cannot  in  any  manner  or  degree  be 
brought  within  them,  we  are  nevertheless  told  that 
we  must  represent  the  Absolute  to  ourselves  under 
these  forms.  As  writes  Mr.  Mansel,  in  the  work  from 
which  I  have  already  quoted  largely — "  It  is  our  duty, 


338      The  Science  of  Mormonism 

then,  to  think  of  God  as  personal;  and  it  is  our  duty 
to  believe  that  He  is  infinite." 

That  this  is  not  the  conclusion  here  adopted,  needs 
hardly  be  said.  If  there  be  any  meaning  in  the  fore- 
going arguments,  duty  requires  us  neither  to  affirm 
nor  deny  personality.  Our  duty  is  to  submit  our- 
selves with  all  humility  to  the  established  limits  of 
our  intelligence ;  and  not  perversely  to  rebel  against 
them.  Let  those  who  can,  believe  that  there  is  eter- 
nal war  set  between  our  intellectual  faculties  and  our 
moral  obligations.  I  for  one,  admit  no  such  radical 
vice  in  the  constitution  of  things. 

Mr.  Spencer's  conclusion  could  not  have  more  force 
for  Latter-day  Saints  if  it  had  been  stated  by  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith  himself!  Nor  need  Dean  Man- 
sel  have  confused  his  soul  by  holding,  at  one  and  the 
same  time,  a  truth  borne  in  upon  his  heart,  and  its 
contradiction  borne  in  upon  his  intellect,  if  he  had  not 
given  up  the  God  of  the  Bible.  The  conceptions  of 
Deity  held  by  the  Latter-day  Saints  involve  no  such 
contradictions. 


INDEX 


Absolution,  and  confessionals, 
etc.,  175;  and  indulgences, 
174;  and  progress,  171,  177 
Adam  and  Eve,  86,  87 
Adam,  God,  293 
All  born  innocent,  172 
All  things  created  for  man,  68 
Altruism,  229 
America,   discovery   of,    not 

accidental,  in 
Angels,  guardian,  44, 127,  205 
Anglo-Saxons  descendants  of 

Ten  Tribes,  99 
Anthropomorphism,  32,  248 
An ti- Mormon  hostility  ends 

in  disappointment,  7 
"As  man  is  God  once  was," 

etc.,  88 

Atonement  of  Christ,  166,167 
Authority,  ascribed    to    per- 
sonality,    1 06;     preaching 
with,  316;  rather  than  in- 
dividual reverenced,  280 

Baptism,  a  covenant,  175; 
and  divine  authority,  179; 
and  sectarianism,  179;  and 
sprinkling,  182;  evidence 
of  divine  wisdom,  178;  ex- 
hibits man's  psychic  life, 
182;  logical  necessity  of, 
173;  symbolical,  180,  181; 
token  of  forgiveness,  178; 
universal  application,  179 

Beatific  Vision,  a  Presby- 
terian's view,  217 ;  Catholic 
view,  216 


Being  born  is  being  judged, 

117 
Beings,     intelligent,     three 

classes,  131 

Blavatsky,  Madame,  31 
Book  of  Mormon,  209 
Bookworm,  152 
Buddha  and  soul  evolution, 

25;  god  of,  contradictions 

of,  33° 

Buddha's  abstractions,  16 
Buddhist  and  Mormon  idea 

of  creation  compared,  263 
Buddhistic  Karma,  170 

Cain,  descendants  of,  94,  101 
Carlyle's  ridicule  of  St.  Au- 
gustine's idea  of  God,  23 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  31,  62 
Causation  and  mind,  264 
Cause  and  effect  inherent,  263 
Changes  in  passing  from  first 

to  second  estate,  120 
Character    and    inclinations, 

divergence  of,  125 
Characters,     great,     fore-or- 
dained, 126 

Christ,  and  divine  authority, 
169;  and  Godhood,  169; 
and  law  of  liberty,  99 ;  and 
mercy,  166;  and  the 
Father,  248;  and  truth  ab- 
solute, 213 ;  concepts  relat- 
ing to,  243 ;  express  image 
of  Father,  33  ;  our  brother, 
165,  325 ;  uncompromising, 
317 


339 


340 


Index 


Christian  delusion,  59,  60 

Christian  God  Mormon  Holy 
Ghost,  48 

Christian  Science,  error  of, 
140 

Churches  not  social  or  racial 
workshops,  17 

Church,  organization,  197; 
survival,  criterion  of,  8; 
the,  its  rites  and  ordina- 
tions, 290 

Civilization  and  psychic  al- 
ternations, 156 

Compromise  must  be  author- 
ized by  God,  317 

Covenant,  children  of,  131 

Created  and  uncreated,  26 

Creation,  and  Buddhist  god, 
3  7 ;  and  Mormon  concep- 
tion of  God,  38;  and  spirit- 
ual essence,  36;  first,  spirit- 
ual, 70;  mediaeval  notion 
of,  65 ;  motive  of,  64;  order 
and  time  of,  66;  problem 
of,  67;  science  and  theol- 
ogy on,  64;  second,  mortal, 
71;  seven-day  period,  65 

Creative  action,  now  sprung 
forth,  28 

Creator,  vague,  241 ;  Dean 
Mansel's  exposition  of,  334 

Creeds  and  scientific  thought 
of  age,  307 

Creeds'  failure  to  perceive  re- 
pentance, 158 

Damnation,  meaning  of,  58 

Darwin,  Chas.  R.,  61,  69,  285 

Death  and  resurrection,  time 
between,  224 

Declaration  of  Independence, 
criterion  of  judgment,  91 

Deluge,  necessity  of,  94,  95 

Depravity,  total,  54 

Development,  man's  co-oper- 
ation necessary  to,  190 

Divine,  allegiance,  restric- 
tions of,  268 ;  attributes,  re- 
ception of,  260;  authority, 
absence  of,  319 


Doctrine  and  covenants,  209 
Earth,  this,  a  school,  55 
Eddy,  Mary  Baker  G.,  31 
Education,   and  intelligence, 
149 ;  and  repentance  merge, 
163;    conception    of,    148; 
psychological        classifica- 
tion, 153;  secular,  and  en- 
vironment,   163;  true  and 
false,  152 

Ego,  importance  of,  82,  83; 
subject  to  God,  84;  the,  55 ; 
the  (Joseph  Smith),  80 
Ego's  capacity  for  faith  and 

repentance,  84 
Egypt  and  Babylon,  civiliza- 
tion of,  95 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  31 
Energy,  conservation  of,  47; 
conservation  of,  and  Jo- 
seph Smith,  205;  persist- 
ence and  transmutation  of, 
244 

Enoch  and  social  harmony,  97 
Enthusiasm  masquerades  as 
supreme  religious  virtue,  7 
Environment,    evolution   of, 
76,  85;  first  spiritual,  84; 
its  influence  on  Greeks  and 
Chinese,     no;    new    con- 
tinuation of  old,  1 2  o ;  shapes 
destiny,  75;  suited  to  de- 
grees of  intelligences,  85 
Eternal  City,  221 
Eternal  progress,  39 
Evils,  all,  causes  of,  145 
Evolution,   dual,   of  natural 
world,     69;     defined,     61; 
eternal  progress,  62,  302 
Existence,  purpose  of,  69 
Experience,  law  of,  24,  236 
Experiences,  natural,  and  soul 
evolution,  202 

Fairness,  Mormon  policy,  5 
Faith,  alone  dead,  1 90 ;  an  ab- 
stracted quality,  146;  and 
repentance,  heralds  of  eter- 
nal life,  1 60;  conditions 
necessary  to  operation  of, 


Index 


Faith  (Continued) 

133;  effects  of,  152;  essen- 
tial characteristic  of,  83; 
fundamental  principle  of 
religion,  133;  how  de- 
veloped or  destroyed,  143; 
in  God,  scientific  aspect  of, 
129;  in  law  unifies,  145; 
meaning  of,  136;  necessary 
to  psychic  evolution,  135; 
quality  necessary  to  con- 
viction, 138;  truthness,  and 
conviction,  relation  of,  139; 
types  of,  136,  141;  without 
works,  141 

Father,  and  Son,  presence  of, 
223;  Son,  Holy  Ghost, 
unity  of,  266 

First  cause,  253,  331;  in- 
comprehensible, 262 

Fiske's,  John,   idea  of  God, 

4S»  46 
Forces,  negative,  reactionary, 

256,     257;     spiritual     and 

physical,  198 
Fore-ordination,  125 
Forgiveness,    and  its  token, 

174;    and    remorse,     172; 

different  tokens  of,  175 
Forms,  dwarfed  (animal  and 

vegetable),  226 
Free  agency,  81 
Future    life,    activities    and 

possibilities   of,    286;    and 

the     arts,      221;     natural 

epochs  of,   224;   work  of, 

220,  221 

Genius,  etc.,  47 

Geocentric  theory,  241 

Gifts,  possession  and  mani- 
festations of,  124 

God,  absurd  conception  of 
(St.  Augustine),  20;  Adam, 
293 ; and  Godhood,  63 ;  and 
His  supremacy,  50;  and  in- 
spiration, 209;  and  modifi- 
cation of  will,  43;  and 
organic  processes,  229;  and 
power  to  create,  254;  and 


psychic  evolution,  177 ;  and 
the  affairs  of  men,  213; 
and  the  animating  princi- 
ple, 36;  and  the  Bible,  the 
Koran,  209;  and  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  208;  a  personal 
being,  Bible  doctrine,  32; 
"  as  spirit "  misinterpreted, 
1 6;  Athanasian  conception 
of,  29;  Bible  type  of,  Mor- 
mon type,  22;  Buddha's 
idea  Christianized,  235; 
Buddhist  conception  of, 
28,  31;  Christ,  253;  Christ- 
type  of,  and  science,  234; 
Christ-type  of,  inspiration 
to  righteousness,  16  ; 
"coming  to,"  184;  com- 
pared to  earthly  father,  43 ; 
definite,  tokens  definite, 
177;  demanded  by  reason, 
243;  eternal,  236;  father- 
hood of,  325;  father  of 
spirits,  171;  Greek  concep- 
tion of,  16;  how  God  be- 
came, 281;  how  He  rules 
among  nations,  105;  how 
our  Father  became,  275; 
how  seen  by  Moses,  272; 
idea  of,  mediaeval  times,  2 1 ; 
infinite,  236;  in  His  glory, 
how  seen,  272 ;  in  the  sense 
of  Godhood,  255;  invisi- 
bility of,  271 ;  "is  a  Spirit," 
270;  justice  of,  in  teaching 
effects  of  sin,  119;  known 
as  man  becomes  like  Him, 
18;  known  to  man  through 
Christ,  167;  manifesta- 
tions of,  242 ;  man's  concep- 
tion of,  bounded  by  ex- 
perience, 18;  man's  dual 
relationship  to,  170;  man- 
type  of,  the  only  reasonable 
type,  22 ;  medium  of  mani- 
festation of,  47;  modern 
Christian  conception  of,  28, 
30;  modern  Christian  idea, 
difficulties  of,  235;  modern 
Christians  and  science,  244 ; 


342 


Index 


God  (Continued) 

Mormon  conception  of,  14; 
Mormon  conception  of, 
sources  other  than  Scrip- 
ture, 32;  mutability  of, 
273;  omnipotence  and 
omnipresence  of,  1 5 ;  one 
and  many,  238 ;  our  Father, 
55;  pantheistic  conception 
of,  difficulties  of,  34;  Paul's 
restriction,  267;  personal 
idea  of,  how  relinquished, 
31;  personality  of,  19,  24, 
34;  personal,  philosophical 
difficulties  to  concept  of, 
232;  planned  destiny  of 
nations,  112;  postulated  in- 
comprehensible, 300;  pre- 
scribes tokens,  176;  real 
revelation  to  man,  19; 
scientific  concept  of,  31; 
scriptural  conception  of, 
how  operative  in  nature, 
34;  shapes  destiny  of 
individual,  117;  shaping 
destiny  of  mankind,  89; 
subjectively,  objectively, 
219;  supreme-by-law,  171; 
the  source  of  power,  169;  to 
be  like  Him  implies  pro- 
gression, 19;  true  concep- 
tion of,  vital  to  unity,  18; 
two  surviving  conceptions 
of,  28;  unreasonable  type 
of,  overthrown,  22;  vague, 
tokens  vague,  176;  what  is 
He?  234 

God's,  ideals,  expressions  of, 
276;  immutability,  272; 
personality,  noblest  ideal 
of,  1 9 ;  will  and  phenomena, 
48 

Godhead,  252;  and  psychic 
evolution,  281 

Godhood,  alone  not  God,  259; 
and  kinghood,  279;  and  or- 
ganized psychic  being  258; 
and  patriarchial  govern- 
ment, 278;  and  priesthood, 
284;  as  incarnated,  245; 


dominion  part  of,  292;  in- 
operative unless  incar- 
nated, 258;  real  meaning 
of,  251 

Gods,  plurality  of,  261 

Goethe's  Mephistopheles,  57 

Golden  Rule,  100 

Gospel,  and  psychic  evolu- 
tion, 286;  new  dispensa- 
tion of,  319 

Government,  democratic, 
279;  monarchical,  278 

Governments,  divine,  and  fit- 
ness to  rule,  265 

Grace,  219;  and  damnation, 
192;  and  infinite  energy, 
204;  and  the  spirit  of  God, 
198;  and  truth,  260;  means 
of  psychic  evolution,  212; 
of  God  not  restricted  to 
members  of  Church,  319 

Grecian  civilization  and  wor- 
ship, 102 

Greek  nemesis,  171 

Hades  and  Paradise,  228 
Hamilton,  Sir  William,  333 
Hamitic,      civilization,      96 ; 
energy  expended  in  early 
days  of  world,    107;  race, 
future  of,  104 
Harmony    with    law    yields 

power,  130 

Harris,  W.  T.,  U.  S.  Commis- 
sioner of  Education,  299 
Hate  an  element  of  bigotry,  6 
Hatred   of   Mormons    unites 

opposing  sects,  4 
Healing,  phenomena  of ,  139 
Heart-power        needed       in 

schools  and  world,  151 
Heat  waves,  200 
Heaven,  and  hell  within  you, 
298;  a  state  of  harmony, 
57 ;  endurance  of,  39;  order 
of,  and  church  government, 
223;    perfect    social    har- 
mony,   222;  the  here  and 
now,  56;  we  create,  222 
Heliocentric  theory,  241 


Index 


343 


Hell,  experiences  of,  59;  state 
of  discord,  57 

Heredity,  physical  and 
spiritual,  125;  possibilities 
of,  121 ;  spiritual,  supreme, 
127 

History,  principle  of  inter- 
pretation of,  1 08 

Holy  Ghost,  and  energy,  203 ; 
and  existence,  49;  and  in- 
stinct, 223;  and  symbol- 
ism, 215;  as  medium,  205; 
differentiations  of ,  204;  in- 
volves a  token,  214 

Hubbard,  Elbert,  millen- 
nium, 7 

Huxley,  Thos.,  285 

Ideal,  Gospel,  92;  individual- 
liberty,  98;  modern,  97 
Idealization  and  expression, 

J93 

Ideals,  false,  of  Old- World 
civilization,  92 ;  man  goes 
to  nature  for,  2 1 

Idolatry  and  attendant  evils, 
118 

Ignorance,  and  knowledge, 
149;  conception  of,  148; 
the  negative  of  law,  155 

Imitators,  194 

Impulses,  unexpressed, 
smother,  208 

Inalienable  rights,  91 

Infidels,  285 

Inspiration,  47,  210 

"In  the  beginning  was  the 
Word,"  259,  260 

Intelligence,  and  radiancy, 
228;  eternal,  79;  how 
measured,  283;  in  ma- 
terials unthinkable,  50 

Intelligences  working  in 
spirit  world,  74 

apheth  and  descendants,  101 
aphetic  race,  future  of,  104 
ehovah,  238,  242,  267 
ews  and  their  influence  on 
nations,  in 


Job,  327 

Jordan,  Dr.  David  Starr,  56 

Kingdom,  of  God  and  threat- 
ening dangers,  1 97 ;  of  God, 
Christ's  definition  of,  185; 
of  God,  Jewish  conception 
of,  1 86;  of  God,  potentially 
within  man,  196 

Knowledge  transformed  to 
power,  152 

Law,  and  government,  human 
institution  of,  277 ;  and 
phenomena,  155;  criterion 
of,  1 63;  the  harmony  of 
the  universe,  157;  voice  of 
God,  306 

Liberty,  outcome  of  different 
race,  93 

Life,  dependent  on  human 
law,  2i ;  eternal,  dependent 
on  divine  law,  21;  eternal, 
how  possible,  155;  demands 
power,  149 ;  man's  power  to 
analyze,  75;  place  of  re- 
ligion in,  51;  opportunities 
of  earth  and  future,  72; 
pre-existent,  present,  and 
future,  transitions  of,  76; 
result  of  dual  creation,  69; 
two  aspects  of,  225 

Light  waves,  200 

Loeb,  Dr.,  74 

Lucifer,  256;  and  his  angels, 
328 

Makers'  appreciation  and 
joy,  221 

Man,  a  child  of  God,  15;  be- 
come God,  261;  brother- 
hood of,  162,  325;  co- 
eternal  with  God,  78;  dis- 
tinguished from  brute  crea- 
tion, 151;  must  co-operate 
with  God,  130;  same  order 
of  being  as  God,  55 

Man's  appearance   on  earth, 
86,  87 ;  spiritual  life  a 
cess  of  evolution,  78 


344 


Index 


Mansel,  Dean,  263,  333 

Mansions,  many,  221 

Matter  and  spirit  same  en- 
tity, 63 

Melchisedek,  the  high-priest, 
294 

Millennium  and  social- 
equality,  100 

Mind  and  body  deformities, 
226 

Ministers,  and  crushing  of 
Mormonism,  307 ;  Utah, 
have  declared  war,  7 

Missionary  system  produces 
cosmopolitanism,  5 

Mormon,  and  Christian  phi- 
losophies, common  ground 
of,  45 ;  and  social  growth, 
233;  anticipations  a  social- 
ized future,  223;  principles 
of  virtue,  115 

Mormonism,  a  shaping  factor 
of  world,  116;  and  com- 
mon sense,  298 ;  and  educa- 
tion, 150;  and  natural  and 
spiritual  law,  199;  and 
science  coincide,  12;  and 
sociological  evolution,  130; 
and  World's  Congress  of 
Religions,  303;  an  organic 
religion,  232;  a  scientific 
religion,  9;  a  transcendent 
system  of  evolution,  61; 
charitable  though  uncom- 
promising, 312;  crushing  of , 
7,  303,  309;  destined  to  last 
word,  311;  difficulty  to 
substitute,  308;  if  not, 
what?  295;  faith  and  rea- 
son, 242;  finds  in  life  com- 
mentary on  Scripture,  23; 
for  all,  318;  hatred  of, 
unites  opposing  sects,  4; 
highest  standard  of  right- 
eousness, 112;  holds  other 
churches  as  not  divine,  318; 
not  an  artificial  religion, 
311;  offends  ministers,  305 ; 
requires  no  apology,  317; 
social  aspect  of,  321 


Mormons  among  great  of 
Shemitic  race,  114;  desire 
Christian  unity,  183 

"Morning  stars  sang  to- 
gether," 327 

Moroni,  angel,  227 

Mortality  cannot  see  immor- 
tality, 271 

Motive,  impelling,  in  man,  83 

Mutation  and  earth  evolu- 
tion, 273 

Mysteries,  301 

Nebuchadnezzar,  89 
Necessity   of   mortal   world, 

107 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  64 
"No  man    can   be   saved  in 

ignorance,"  147 

Occasion  for  writing  book,  i 
Omnipotence,      omniscience, 

and     omnipresence,     219, 

258,  259 
Oppression,    revolt    against, 

99 

Pantheism,  32 

Paradise  and  Hades,  228 

Parents  draw  spirits  they  de- 
serve, 1 20 

Pastor  moulds  opinion  of  his 
congregation,  3 

Perdition,  sons  of,  58 

Perfection,  God's  help  neces- 
sary to,  192;  implication 
of,  262;  man's  possibilities 
of,  187 

Phenomena,  are  illusory,  10; 
explained  by  heredity  and 
fore-ordination,  125;  man 
fitted  to  apprehend,  11; 
natural,  and  Buddhistic 
philosophy,  33 

Physical,  and  mental  defects, 
causes  of,  124;  science  and 
man's  pre-eminenge,  67 

Plato,  21 

Polytheism,  238 


Index 


345 


Powers,  positive,  negatively 
used,  162 

Prayer,  and  modern  Christian 
God,  40 ;  meaning  and  con- 
ditions of,  40,  41 ;  philoso- 
phy of,  207 

Prayers,  175;  by  whom  con- 
sidered, 43 

Preaching,  dogmatic,  fu- 
tility of,  147 

Pre-existence,  advanced  by 
revelation,  324;  memory 
of,  172;  scientific  doctrine 
of,  105;  spiritual  proofs  of, 

323 

Pre-existent    state,   oblivion 

of,  123 
Priesthood,  grants  dominion, 

291;    infallibility    of,    293; 

license  for  Godhood,   290; 

offices  of,   289;  ordination 

to,  288 

Prodigal  man,  164 
Progress    and    environment, 

282 
Prophets,    false     notion    of, 

3°5. 

Psychic,  evolution  and  analo- 
gies in  nature,  187;  life  of 
earth  and  other  spheres, 
287;  sensation  and  elec- 
tricity, 200 

Reason  for  crushing  Mormons 
not  new,  6;  why  sectarian 
ministers  do  not  unite,  5 

4 '  Reform ' '  demands  ' '  Con- 
form," 7 

Religion,  abortive,  296;  and 
domain  of  reason,  299; 
and  living  faith,  52;  arti- 
ficially cultivated,  296;  a 
social  factor,  54;  birth  of, 
26;  in  the  public  schools, 
299;  life  itself,  55 ;  Mormon 
conception  of,  55;  natural, 
297 ;  of  would-be-reformers, 
308;  only  one  true,  315; 
reason  for  existence  of,  1 2 ; 
unscientific,  unworthy  of 


credence,  9;  varied  forms 
of,  how  developed,  191; 
warp  and  woof  of  life,  53 

Religions,  false,  202;  Godli- 
ness of ,  lost,  195;  withered, 
196 

Religious,  bigotry  a  past  vice, 
6 ;  feeling  seeks  expression, 
296;  societies  and  will  of 
man,  195 

Remorse,  awakened,  164; 
why  felt,  170-171 

Repentance,  and  absolution, 
170;  and  cults  of  to-day, 
158;  and  education  identi- 
cal, 147;  and  emotion,  169; 
and  forgiveness,  160;  and 
revelation,  1 69 ;  brings  man 
to  God,  163;  conformity  to 
ideal,  1 60 ;  essential  charac- 
teristic of,  83;  implies 
righteousness,  156;  se- 
quence of,  157;  what  in- 
volved, 161 

Resurrected  bodies,  229;  of 
infants,  231 

Resurrection,  life  after,  224; 
now  in  process,  231;  po- 
tentiality of  spirit,  231 

Retrogression  and  advance- 
ment, 76 

Revelation,  210;  and  law,  157 

Righteousness,  alone  upholds 
organic  systems,  4;  artifi- 
cial, 53;  defined,  157;  the 
secret  of  Mormon  thrift,  4 

Right,  requisites  of,  202 

Roman  civilization  and  wor- 
ship, 102 

Salvation  (Joseph  Smith), 
156;  and  divine  worship, 
208;  and  eternal  bliss,  156; 
and  grace,  189;  comes 
through  intelligence  (Jo- 
seph Smith),  149;  educa- 
tion a  means  of,  158; 
imaginary,  52;  impossi- 
ble through  ignorance, 
155;  latent  elements  of, 


346 


Index 


Salvation  (Continued) 

154;  meaning  of,  154; 
Mormonism's  practical  no- 
tion of,  314;  tendency  of 
age  toward,  182;  through 
sacrifice,  150;  unity  essen- 
tial to,  313 

Scattering  from  Babel,  re- 
sults of,  1 08,  109 

School,  God's,  ideally  fitted, 
154 

Schools,  artificial  contrivan- 
ces, 149;  fated  by  fads,  154 

Science,  and  eternal  energy, 
109;  and  faith,  beginning 
v       of,  199;  skeptical,  12;  woof 
and  warp  of,  1 1 

Scripture,  and  the  mystical 
209;  growing  and  ex- 
pansive, 2 1 1 ;  mediaeval 
doctrine  of,  210;  misinter- 
preted, 189—190 

Sectarianism,  what,  has  to 
offer,  303 

Sectarian  ministers  the  orig- 
inators of  strife,  304 

Secular  organizations  origin- 
ators of  social  movements, 
17 

Selfishness  and  power,  161 

Self-reliance  not  offensive  to 
God,  192 

Seth,  descendants  of,  and 
priesthood,  95 

Shemitic,  civilization,  97 ;  in- 
fluences on  Latin  races, 
1 02,  103;  race,  future  of, 
104;  race  preservers  of  the 
great  religious  ideals,  101 

Sin,  and  ignorance,  158;  and 
relative  righteousness,  55; 
and  the  devil,  255 ;  penalty 
of,  118;  unpardonable,  58, 
257;  unstability  of,  4 

Smith,  Joseph,  9,  78,  149, 
156;  and  cosmic  forces,  47 ; 
as  a  prophet,  305;  first 
vision,  246 

Social  evolution  in  spirit 
world,  1 88 


Social  world,  problems  of,  221 
Solar  system,  a  product   of 

cause,  28;  necessity  of,  66 
Souls,     Nathaniel-like,     165; 

selfish,  165 
Sound  waves,  199 
Sovereignty,     misconception 

of,  278 

Species,  derivation  of,  66 
Spencer,    Herbert,    31,    230, 

33.7 

Spirit,  and  parentage  de- 
served, up;  form  of,  81; 
presence  of,  224 

Spirits,  classified  in  premortal 
state,  116;  self-classifica- 
tion of,  105,  107 

Spiritual,  and  mortal,  union 
of,  71;  counterpart,  227; 
evolution,  nature  of,  185 

Superstition,  false  faith,  144; 
Middle  Ages  cast  seed,  6 

Telepathy,  divine,  205 

The  hereafter  and  intelligent 
beings,  216 

Theories,  philosophic,  sup- 
plant living  faith,  1 7 

Theosophists  and  Christ,  168 ; 
and  prayer,  40 

Things,  duration  of,  condi- 
tional, 154 

Thoughts  and  emotions  or- 
ganically conveyed,  206 

Time,  and  space,  25;  and 
space,  without  beginning 
or  end,  264 

Token,  characteristics  of ,  1 78 ; 
essential  to  salvation,  178 

Truth,  and  truthness  dis- 
tinguished, 138;  defined 
(Joseph  Smith),  9;  inter- 
preted by  God,  absolute, 
1 2 ;  interpreted  by  man,  re- 
lative, 12;  known  by  ex- 
perience, 24;  Mormon  ap- 
prehension of,  12 

Truthness,  man's  range  of, 
201 

Tyndall,  John,  285 


Index 


347 


Unity,  of  natural  phenomena, 
1 34 ;  of  sectaries  in  attack- 
ing Mormonism,3O9 ;  spirit- 
ual and  social,  134,  135 

Universe  full,  26 

Vanity,  214 

Virtue  as  reward,  162 

Wordsworth  and  pre-exis- 
tence,  324 


Wordsworth's  Intimations  of 
Immortality,  323 

Works,  lifeless,  Christ's  de- 
nunciation of,  195 ;  without 
grace  dead,  193 

World,  natural  and  spiritual, 
225 

Worlds,  formation  of,  26 

X-rays,  201 


